To-Love Ru: I Struggle
by drastorm3r
Summary: Yuuki Rito is in his third and final year of Sainan High, and pressure is on as time slows down. Sairenji hasn't returned from the previous summer and now it is spring, Momo's forcing the Harem onto Rito, while Lala just wants to see Rito happy. With his heart in turmoil, can Rito survive the end of the school year and make his decision before its end? To Love, or to End the Harem?
1. To Love Who?

**This is (NOT) a Harem story!**

The sunlight filtered through Yuuki Rito's bedroom, rousing him as the rays of light flashed pink in his field of vision. As his thoughts started to coalesce, Rito realized, while the sun was still young in the sky, that pink was a very rare color for the sun to be shining this early in the day. As he opened his eyes fully, Rito realized that the short, cropped hair filling his view was the source of the color pink, as he brushed the stray hairs from his face. Now feeling numb underneath the blankets, he moved them away to find a feminine pinkette draped over his body. "Good morning Rito-san," Momo purrs seductively as she blinks her eyes sleepily, "My, my, what a wonderful time we had last night..." She goes to kiss his neck, but Rito is blushing furiously, trying desperately to think of what was going on. Suddenly another head pops out from under the cover of the bed.

'Rito, were you just going to ignore me?" the pleading eyes of the eldest Deviluke sister, Lala speaks, as she rubs the sleep from her eyes, still in her child-like form, "You know I've wanted your morning kiss this morning..." At that Rito's jaw is dropped, as he notices unlike Momo's pink slip, Lala was clad in nothing, her buxom clear in the morning sunlight. Rito broke when Haruna Sairenji slipped up from between the two, her doe eyes blinking up as she chose to lay her head on Rito's exposed chest, before gently falling back into soft snores. Steam was pouring out of his ears, as he muttered and blushed so furiously, it would have sounded like a tea kettle going off. That was when Yami-chan stretched herself out of the covers at the foot of Rito's bed, brushing back her wild bed-head and fixing her ears.

It took a second for Rito to double check, but then he noticed Yami-chan was, in fact, dressed in a bunny suit, and apparently slept with the ears still on. "Oh, Yuuki Rito, do not look at me like that," she says to him monotonously, "You know how much I hate your perverted stares this early in the morning." She then proceeds to turn one of her bangs into a scythe and slowly brings it to Rito's chest. "I hate perverted things, you know," she states, "And, after all, you are still my target, Yuuki Rito." Pushing the sharp blade harder into Yuuki's chest. Rito sweats as he then screams out in pain, while the blade pierces his ribcage.

"Yaaggghhh!" he cries out, opening his eyes for real, as he feels the pins and needles suggesting their really was something on his chest this time, and the throbbing ache in his chest suggesting this was reality, and not dream. Tossing off the cover for real this time, he finds halfway on his legs, buxom pushing into his side now that they were exposed to the morning light, and an arm draped over his chest, nails now softly kneading instead of sharply digging. The teenage form of Lala Satalin Deviluke sat atop him, and Rito finally realized why she had begun to knead into his chest. His right hand lay over her firm posterior, her tail somehow wrapped around his forearm, gently, and his hand holding the warm spade that topped her tail, softly pulsing under his touch.

Quickly removing his grip, her tail unwinds itself from around his arm, too slowly for Rito's taste, but still he can't help but loose his breath at the sight of the naked girl before him. Quickly and quietly moving her arm from his chest, he slips out of bed leaving the sleeping Lala behind him, as he quickly finds a new pair of shorts to put on. Moving to the bathroom, he knocks and waits before entering, not hearing a sound, he then moves to grab medicine and a bandage for the bright red marks on his chest. Sighing softly, Rito was just glad she hadn't drawn blood, he didn't want to be apologized to all day, or subject himself to any of Lala's dubious inventions in an attempt to repair the slight scrape.

"Good morning Onii-Chan," Mikan mumbles as she walks into the bathroom, going for the toothbrush and the sink, ignoring Rito, "You're up early..." Rito sweatdrops, thankful that Mikan chose to ignore what he was doing, no doubt still tired from having come back late in the night, after cleaning up their Father's workplace and providing him, Zastin, and the two body guards, Maul and Smutts, her delicious cooking. "Momo assault you yet this morning?" she ask casually, while yawning,while Rito chuckles and scratches the back of his head, "I'm assuming so, otherwise you wouldn't be up before seven on a Saturday..." Rito sighs and puts the medical supplies away, after finishing up treating his wound and applying the bandage. He then washes his face and grabs his own toothbrush to get his daily routine going.

Mikan parts ways to return to her room and get Celine, so the baby alien could be watched as she prepared breakfast for the household. Rito was humming as he finished up in the restroom, before he heard a loud scream come from the direction of his room. Quickly running to his room, he is surprised to find Momo passed out on the floor, with Nana and Lala trying to wake her up. Lala now had Peke on, some more basic sleepwear framing her petite figure, as she and Nana tried to no avail to wake their unconscious sister. "What happened in here?" Rito exclaims, as he takes in the three occupants of his room, "I was gone for less than ten minutes?" Nana looks up from Momo with a glint in her eye.

"You beast, you lecher, you brute, how dare you taint my sister with your essence!" Nana says, jumping to her feet and quickly pulling Rito into a headlock, pulling him to the ground, "Momo was so surprised she fainted out of shock at the sight of whatever beastly, carnal actions you seduced Aneki into performing for you last night!" She lets go and points to a spot on the bed exposed by the lack of sheets. At the exposed section of the bed, drops of red dotted the white sheets of Rito Yuuki's bed sheet. It was then that Rito's expression blanked, and he put a hand to his head.

"Baka," he says flicking Nana in the forehead, anger somehow coursing through his head, "That's because your sister clawed me, right before I woke up this morning!" Nana cows at his outburst, but her eyes then focus on the bandage on Rito's exposed chest, her cheeks flushing red as she sees the light gauze dotted slightly by the oozing scratch.

"Rito, why didn't you wake me up!" Lala whines, as she notices his bandage as well, "I could have made something up for you to use to heal yourself!" Slightly pouting and biting her lips, Rito can't help but laugh at the cute expression of annoyance on her face. At that Momo stirs to waking state, and both Nana and Lala stop and quickly go to her side.

"S-s-s-s-Sis!" she mumbles, her eyes tearing up as she looks up at Lala, "Why did you have to make a move now, I had plans in the works to seduce- Rito-san!" She embarrassingly smiles as Rito feels a blush pass his face, before he slinks out of the room to leave the three sisters to the awkward conversation to follow. He sighed as he left the continuing normal occurrence for the day behind him, and descended the stairs to the first floor.

It had been two years since Lala had come into his life, and one since Nana and Momo had joined in, making his life in the Yuuki household harder and harder, as Momo schemed and Nana glared at him, while Lala's unceasing joy and zest for life and love continued to permeate the everyday actions of one Rito Yuuki. He had definitely grown over the past two years, no longer the once skinny child he had been when Lala had dragged him into her exciting life, and out of his mundane routine. Everything was basically unchanged since last summer, the days went by as they always did, and the last Christmas gathering at the Yuuki household once again was able to feature both Saibai and Ringo Yuuki, with Lala and the help of his friends.

The harem plan was still in full swing, at the insistence and perseverance of Momo, though he had felt her conviction begin to waver as time seemed to drag on. Nana, of course still seemed to torture him once or twice a week still over something he had done, on accident, to one of the three sisters, but the everyday occurrences seemed to be dropping down. Lala of course was still her ever bubbly self, quirks and all, and Rito felt he was beginning to act better around her as time went on, especially once she had returned to her full height one morning, as he found her clinging to him one morning in his bed, bust and all. His feelings about Haruna and Lala were still murky though, as they ever were; his heart still uncertain and undecided as it was that fateful day, when she finally confessed and he reciprocated. But then she moved back with her parents for the summer, and Rito for the first time in a while, began to feel the pang of loss, less and less.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, or so the saying went. So why was Sarenji so faint on his mind? Perhaps it was the fact that she had yet to return to school so far, even though she had promised to return once Summer came to an end, and school began. Now it was spring of a new year, and Yuuki Rito had strange thoughts cross his absent mind. Perhaps this spring thaw could warm his frozen heart, and replace the dull ache with the possibilities of a new day.

As Rito was lost in thought, he had missed seeing Yami-chan as she entered the house that morning, unaware Mikan had invited her over for plans that morning. As he crossed the threshold to his living room and took a misstep in shock, his ankle rolled and gave out on him, threatening to put him off balance and crashing into Golden Darkness. With a look of faint shock crossing her eyes and emotionless face, Rito reacted within moments. Rolling to the side and onto the table instead, he pushed off and straightened himself, choosing wisely not to try and put weight on his foot again. "Good morning, Yami-chan," Rito chirped brightly, trying to hide the embarrassment on his face, "I didn't know you were here, sorry, sorry!"

Yami paused as she looked him over, before grabbing him by the arm on which side he had rolled his ankle, and helps him to sit down with minimal fanfare. "You should be more careful, Yuuki Rito, I do not wish to see you hurt yourself," she states dispassionately, "After all, you are still my target, Yuuki Rito, and only I may harm you..." Rito sighs and scratches behind his head again, as he sheepishly smiles at the retreating, living weapon.

"Man, I can't believe I dodged like that," Rito muttered to himself, "It seems those lessons Zastin has been helping me with has been paying off..." He thinks back to the smiling silver haired Deviluke knight, as he mercilessly parried with him over the log, crossing a roaring stream while pushing him off it. The wooden sword had hurt, but the training had helped discipline his body, it seemed. Yes, perhaps this would be the start of a brand new day for REdito Yuuki.

It was then that he crashed into a mop of pink hair, as he rounded the corner to the kitchen, and he felt the impact as he stumbled back a few paces. "Riiiitoooo!" Lala cried out as she kneeled on the floor where she had fallen, "Look at what you did!" Pulling the hot and wet shirt away from her exposed skin, the miso broth lay half empty on the floor where it had hit with a sharp clack. Rito was thoroughly embarrassed at the situation, and went to help her up, when Lala began stripping the ruined garment off her body.

"La- la- Lala, what are you doing?" he cried out, as she stopped exposing the lower half of her bust, "Let me get you a t-towel, and one of my shirts, don't just strip with Yami and everyone watching!" Rushing to the laundry, he heard the hissing of Nana and Yami from behind his fleeing figure, but he didn't stop to be lectured again.

Perhaps today wasn't going to be the start of the best day after all...

* * *

Edit/Disclaimer to Add: Obviously due not own To Love Ru, otherwise Lala would have been more prevalent.


	2. Decisions, Decisons

_Disclaimer: Obviously do not own To Love Ru, otherwise Momo would have been handled differently..._

It was noon by the time Rito decided to do something with his day, after eating a delicious lunch prepared by Yami-chan and Mikan. Saruyama had finally gotten around to messaging him, inviting him to a new manga store in his neighborhood,with the catch that he would visit the neighboring garden and herbalist store that was next door that had opened at the same time. Rito knew the complex had recently been redeveloped after Darkness had attacked their friends and destroyed buildings unintentionally as a side effect, and the garden and herb shop was said to be the best place to pick up rare tea mixes being shipped in from worldwide. While he preferred a soda or something else, he knew Mikan's refined tastes liked to be challenged with new blends of tea, and perhaps he could even pick up some new plants to go with his newly created me-space.

Ah, that's right, he forgot to lock his room up, so he needed to go do that before Momo or someone else snuck in to mess with his stuff. Ever since the Deviluke sisters had been visited by their mother, the free loading Lala and Nana decided to make it up to him for Christmas. Lala had created a portable mirror gateway to be hung on the back of his door, while Nana had programmed and picked out various geologically unique areas for his own virtual space. While Nana was no horticulturist, she had de-facto knowledge about various edible plants suitable for animal and human consumption alike, and she used this to program a section of Earth-like terrain that Rito could be comfortable in, and seeded it with starter plants after getting some help from Momo.

The star of the virtual space was Lala's own design, a detailed recreation of Rito's room, down to the books and clothes, connected oddly enough, to a large greenhouse that was quite likely bigger than the whole plot of land their house was located on. Lala was especially proud that she had even got the artificial lighting to mimic the day/night cycle of Earth, so as not to throw off any growth habits. Rito was just happy the device worked, though Nana assured him she had checked the modifications Lala had made twelve different times in their assembling the gift. After a few months, Rito hoped he could begin harvesting some of the well producing edibles gifted too him, and lower the costs incurred by shopping for the six, or sometimes more, people that visited the house for dinner. He hoped he could pocket some spending money and use it to treat Lala for their hard work, or even Haruna if she returned.

Doing the final check of his room, Rito noticed the portal was still off and smiled happily as he checked his window one last time. Satisfied, he went downstairs and informed Mikan he would be back later with a surprise. Mikan warned him to look out for Momo, and to make sure not to attract any unwanted attention due to his unintentional perverseness. He merely grumbled at her send off, and parted ways to find Saruyama.

Finding the Manga shop wasn't hard, but keeping Saruyama from hitting on the girls or checking out the less moral stories kept there, was another story all together. He often found his friend by the screams and the sound of palm hitting cheek, as he was slapped by more than one girl throughout their afternoon. Sighing, stopping for a rest for a moment after finding he lost his friend yet again, Rito quickly turned the corner before stumbling into a person. Quickly loosing his footing due to the weight of the books in said persons hand's, he found himself atop a pile of paperback volumes and marshmallows. After that last bit caught up with him, he wisely refrained from squeezing, dreading the chill that went down his spine as his thoughts caught up to him.

Finding the black haired, brown eyed face of their school's moral officer staring back at him though the small pile of books, Yuuki quickly got to picking things up after helping her sit up, avoiding any unnecessary looks toward her lower half. Picking up the paper volumes, he quickly found his hand brushing Yui Kotegawa's. Blushing as she finally notices Rito, she graciously takes the pile of books from him. "How shameless, you knock me down in a place like this, my first day on the job too..." she mutters crossly, before turning to Rito, "Thank you any ways, for correcting your actions, and for helping me pick these books up." Rito nods, glad she didn't get the full effect of his normally 'Shameless' situations, and he was happy he hadn't squeezed when he did. The last book in hand, Rito looked down and noticed it was one of his own father's manga volumes.

"I didn't know this store stocked my Father's work," he mused out loud, before smiling and putting the last book in Yui's full hands, "You seem to have a couple of his works in that pile, Kotegawa, did someone ask for these?" Blushing and not answering, she merely nods as she stands up with Rito's arm to steady her. "Well, thanks for not chewing me out Kotegawa," Rito states, "But I have to find Saruyama before he ends up getting kicked out of here for good..." Parting ways, Yui mutters something that sounds like 'Shameless' under her breath, as they depart. Rito had been surprised, of course, but Yui Kotegawa was a woman that few people questioned, and he knew better than to upset her after the incident. He assumed she just wanted some pocket money, after all Kotegawa was the most responsible person he knew.

Kotegawa merely sighed as she restocked the stores shelving of empty volumes. In truth she had forced herself into this situation, after backing herself into a corner. She had finally gotten her parents to reconsider their attitude on pets, and had convinced her brother to back her up as she pleaded to get a cat. With some well worded speeches and promises, she ended up being the proud owner of a black and white female kitten, which seemed to latch on to the cat lover like she was her own child. In return, she worked this part time job on the weekends in exchange to show she could balance home, school, and work responsibilities, and still be a responsible pet owner.

She was pissed at half the NEET's and Otaku's that kept asking her stupid or obvious questions, but she had to keep this job for at least a month before she could keep the cat. Hearing that Saruyama was in the store was like putting a jackhammer to her mental foundation, she could crack at any time if she crossed his path. After a few moments of restocking, her hands were empty and she went to grab more from the back, when a black haired hedgehog slammed straight into her. After collecting her thoughts, Saruyama was already on top of her, head between her breasts and hand partway up her thigh. "You SHAMELESS pervert!" she yells and slaps him across the face, her mouth moving before she even registered who it was, "Be happy I don't call the police about hearing you harassing my customer's, and now me sexually, so you better cut it out Yuuki Rito!" Saruyama stared at her confused for a moment, honestly hurt by the stinging slap and words.

"Gee Kotegawa, I didn't know you could be such a killjoy out of school, as well as in it," he says looking over her, "Just because I'm Yuuki's friend, doesn't mean you can just compare me to him when something like this happens." Yui blushes now thoroughly embarrassed, realizing it was Saruyama, not Rito that had molested her. She realizes his tone and face is serious, and he closes his eyes, seemingly in contemplation. "Please, you could never match my perverseness with that accidental amateur, he gets full on panty shots and hot chicks," he states quickly, "And what do I get but a tight bookworm who doesn't know how to break loose, even if she was handed the keys to her moral prison!" Finding himself on the floor, a welt forming on his cheek, Saruyama couldn't help but feel a bit of satisfaction getting a rise of of Yui like that.

When Rito backtracked Saruyama, he was quite surprised to find a blushing Yui helping him to his feet, as he approached the duo. "Uh, is everything all right?" he ask hesitantly, all he gets is a blush from Yui, and Saruyama's love struck gaze, "She didn't hurt you too bad, did she Saruyama?" Yui would have felt indignation at that, if it wasn't for the fact that she almost took satisfaction in Rito's unintentional praise and recognition of her strength and character.

"I didn't hurt the pervert too bad, Rito-kun, but I suggest you get him out of here before my manager sees him flirting anymore," she says honestly, "Get that pervert out of my sight, since you both have proven to me how shameless you boys really are, if you stay here and don't immediately get out..." Rito sighs as he helps Saruyama steady himself and directs him toward the exit.

"Thank you very much Yui, I'll make sure he doesn't do anything else today," Rito states, "We're going to the nearby garden and herb shop anyway, I very much doubt he could do anything bad there!"

Rito would be very wrong, once he entered the Garden and Herb shop, which seemed to not only be a shop for plant and tea enthusiasts, but also a small cafe serving their unique blends. It also seemed to be brimming with girls of all ages and varieties, and Rito took the time to be extra wary in this situation. It was like stepping into a minefield, one wrong move and everything blows up in his face. After steering Saruyama to an empty table with chairs, he got in line for some tea, and quickly returned with two, piping hot specialty blends.

Rito began to be worried when Saruyama was too quite for his normal self, usually unable to keep his mouth from running and saying perverted, often offhand comments, about the girls around him, usually leading to physical assault by one or more parties. "Saruyama, are you alright?" he asks his friend, who seems to be casually staring out into space, away from any girls, "You're spacing out, dude, and that doesn't mean anything good for me..." Saruyama sighs, before refocusing his attention on Rito.

"Rito Yuuki, have you ever felt like you woke up one day after a really long time asleep?" he asks his friend, which confuses Rito with his metaphor, "I've been asleep for so long, dreaming about nothing but boobies and skirts, and today my man, today..." He trails off, before suddenly jumping out of his chair and slamming both hands on the table and staring at Rito with his eyes gleaming. "Today my best friend, I think I have an answer to both of our problems!" Saruyama loudly exclaims, to Rito's chagrin, "Yui Kotegawa has opened my eyes to new possibilities, thoughts racing through my love struck body I had never even contemplated before because of you, Yuuki Rito and your Harem plan!" Rito is thoroughly blushing as everyone eyes them at their table, and he tries to avoid the stares.

"What the heck are you talking about Kenichi Saruyama?" Rito hisses out in reply, "Keep your voice down and sit!" Saruyama looks around and shrugs sheepishly, sitting down as the rest of the cafe returns to normal. Rito now turns Saruyama's attention to him. "What are you talking about Saruyama?" he asks, "How do you even know Yui is part of Momo's Harem Plan?"

Saruyama smiles deviously as he snickers at Rito. "Please, Momo is so easy to read, no matter how hard she hides it in school, I've been around your house enough to see the signs," he states casually, "Ever since Nemesis announced her intentions to have us capture you, it was easy to connect the dots to all the women you come in contact with, and see that Momo had been pulling strings long before Nemesis unraveled the weave." He stops and sighs while Rito is amazed Saruyama could be smart enough to connect the dots.

"So, what about Yui?" Rito asks in return, "What do you mean you can help me with 'both our problems?" At taht Saruyama nods sagely and smiles even harder.

"Why, Rito my man, the problem I have is I think I've fallen in love with Yui Kokegawa, and she is one of your Harem candidates," Saruyama replies, "I think if you help me get a date with Yui, I'll help you deconstruct Momo's Harem Plan, and still make it so that everyone remains happy, whad'ya say my best friend?" Saruyama holds out his hand to shake on it. Rito's jaw is dropped at Saruyama's confession, but he swallows his embarrassment and takes the offering gladly. "Good to see you agree pal, so let's start off with a clear goal in mind," Saruyama states seriously, for the first time in a long time, "Your heart belongs to either Lala, or Sairenji Haruna, that much is obvious to leave for last; let's start by taking apart the weakest links in the chain, do you have any ideas?"

Rito looks at Saruyama and his brilliance hidden behind that idiotic, perverted face he puts up as a defense. He felt hot tears bite the corners of his eyes, as they threatened to spill from the immense happiness and understanding he felt rolling off form his friend. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves and collect his thoughts, Yuuki Rito thought back to all his times involved with Momo's Harem Plan, and came up with the two people he knew he didn't like, like that. "One I can think of is Nana, the other being Mea Kurosaki," he says once he was done pondering it over, before he pauses and sees Saruyama's reaction, "Dude, are you alright?"

Saruyama just had tears in his eyes and a sad, depressed aura around his looks, as he stared pitifully at Rito. "Why do you have to make me so jealous of your interest in first years, Rito?" he says whining, "Did you have every girl in school at your beck and call?" Rito merely scratches his head sheepishly in reply, nervously laughing off what he hoped was a joke on Saruyama's behalf. After finishing up the tea and shopping, Rito left with a few new plants for his Cyber Hangout.

After returning home, just as the sun was going down and darkness began to descend, he enjoyed dinner with his Sister, Lala, Momo, and Nana, and Celine. After a few escapades in the bath, resulting in Momo getting kicked out by Mikan for attempting to get in with Rito, then Lala chasing after Celine, both having just come from the bath, and Rito got into another awkward situation after managing to get bowled over by both Celine jumping into his arms, and Lala crashing into him. Finally, he safely made it into his bedroom, where the plants he bought were waiting, and informed the girls he where he would be if they needed him. Closing the door and staring at the deactivated portal hanging on the back, he pushed the button that unlocked the genetic lock on the machine, and activated the entrance to his Cyber Hangout.

The artificial ceiling mimicked the stars in the night sky, and Rito was happy as he walked down the long cobblestone path to his greenhouse and his second bedroom. Finding his way around the small replica of his house, and into the greenhouse, he quickly put his plants in areas he could actually plant them in the morning. Yawning tiredly as he placed his last tomato plant in its new raised bed, he cleaned up at the sink installed in his greenhouse, and went into his home away from home. Almost every room besides the living room was identical in shape and form to the main house, though the furniture within was more muted. Except his own room, which was identical to the room as it was when the project was created, every other room was basically all white sheets, sterile and void of the color and life the real house held, but then again he was really the only occupant of his Cyber House.

Taking the time to grab a few minutes of peace and quite in his Cyber House, before having to return to the chaotic mess outside, he grabbed a book he hadn't read in ages and laid back on his bed. Taking in the air of quietness, it almost made him uncomfortable being in such a quite house, before he felt an arm around his chest. "Fufufu, Yuuki Rito, you're such a bad boy," Nemesis says elatedly, appearing out of a cloud of dark matter, "You plan on breaking all those hearts with Saruyama's help?" Rito stiffens as he realizes what she was saying.

"Nemesis, I don't know what ideas are going through that head of yours, but..." he stops as she gets up into his face, smiling seductively and blinking her lashes at him. Straddling him, she pulls away from his face and pushes him down to the bed, smiling all the while.

"You've got the wrong idea, Rito-kun," she says, extending her syllables at the end, "I'm actually quite proud of your decision, despite the backlash you could receive; you're really showing a Kingly amount of decisiveness choosing to break hearts, you playboy, you..." She almost purrs in his ear, as she leans down to whisper. "Teasing you is soooo easy," she says, pulling back and grinding him non-discreetly as she gets off of him, "But don't worry, I won't interfere in your decision." She morphs her yukata into being, causing Rito to be embarrassed that he hadn't even realized she wasn't wearing any clothes besides undergarments. "Rito-kun," she says looking back as she begins to leave, "Go easy on Mea and Eve; I never held that sort of interest in you, but their newborn feelings might not handle you crushing their affections toward you." Ever enigmatic in her parting words, the sly minx slips beyond the doorway, and he can only presume she went on to leave the Cyber Hangout for the real world.

"What game are you playing Nemesis?" he asks to himself, sitting back on his bed and staring at the ceiling, "Just what the heck did I get myself into?" Peeking around the doorway, a flash of pink hair goes unnoticed by Rito.


	3. A Great Need

_Disclaimer: Obviously I do not own To Love-Ru_

The night was not over for Rito, once Nemesis had left his presence. He had sat on his bed contemplating his actions of the day, and wondering just how he was really going to accomplish this with Saruyama's help. Nemesis said she wasn't going to get in the way of his plans, but to be careful with Mea and Yami's feelings. Mea of course would be a bit harder to sway, because she seemed to support the Harem Plan with fervor and glee, if only to tease him about the many perverted situations he ended up getting himself into with the many girls around him. Yami- Yami was Yami. It was hard to always gauge her feelings toward him, as they seemed to swing from tolerance, to embarrassed rage, to an overpowered slap to the face with her Trans ability, or just plain, hopefully exaggerated, death threats.

Sighing, after moping around in his second room for half an hour, he moved his weary muscles from his bed and out the path to leave his Cyber Hangout behind him. Finding his room unchanged, empty, and free of any signs of Nemesis, Mikan, or any of the other girls, Rito decides to think some more of how to approach the other weakest link. Nana Astar Deviluke was, to be fairly put, blunt in her reasoning, open about her feelings, and quick to anger if you upset her. She was by no means the simplest to approach over a matter like trying to clear up mixed signals and confusing emotions, but Rito believed the simplest approach would suit her best. He would just have to ask her outright, confirm her feelings about him, dissuade her if there was anything there, and try his best to survive her wrath.

Rito, honestly didn't feel anything but fear and respect for the second princess of Deviluke. Fear he could die if he crossed either her or her sisters, and that she could send an army of the most vicious, rare, and most dangerous creatures of the galaxy after him at any moment. There was also the respect that she had stronger morals than Momo, a chaste outlook on love, or so it seemed, and loyalty to her friends and family, especially her Eldest Sister. Perhaps she wouldn't break his neck, or mince him up for food for her animals, if he tried to play up the fact he didn't want to hurt Lala's feelings, and that he really was trying to change the way he was viewed by everyone. With that in mind, Rito made up his mind, and decided that the only way to make sure he didn't chicken out, was to do this right here, right now.

Getting up from his bed, he decides to leave his room and seek Nana out right now, knowing she was probably in her shared room. His hand on the door, Rito goes to pull his door open wide. Tumbling to the ground due to contact with a heavy object, he barely has time to blink as the view of the open hallway goes dark for a moment, only for him to, confusingly, be staring up at the ceiling of his room. Realizing he had seemed to have blacked out, Rito tried to move, to see just what had caused him to end up on the floor. That was when he felt an unusually warm, almost sweaty presence on his arms and legs. Looking down, he noticed a towel caught on the door handle, and proceeded to nervously look down, praying it wasn't Nana.

The sticky feeling and the weight subsided as Rito glanced upwards, his face heated by a blush and cooled by dread. Rubbing her forehead and nose, Lala sat legs spread apart, tail covering her more delicate areas, and one of her arms across her breasts. Rito instantly went fully red, seeing her position, as well as the fact his kneecap was currently pinning her tail to her body as she had sat up. Going to help her up, he quickly found his hands missing her shoulders by inches as he shifted his body, causing Lala to loose her balance, and resulting in one hand sneaking around her waist to catch her, while the other ended up in an entirely different, awkward spot. Realizing this, Rito began to babble incoherently, as Lala slowly smiled and laughed it off.

"Rito, it's alright, I know you were only trying to help," she says laughing, as he removes his hand from her breast, and helps her to her feet before reapplying her towel as a cover, "I wanted to ask you something..." At that, Rito snaps out of it, once he realizes Lala's intentions might make it harder for him to talk to Nana, making him have to wait until another opportunity, which may not arise. "Nana just got in the shower with Momo, and Mikan is washing Celine downstairs," Lala says, "Since we don't get to spend much time, like we used to Rito, I wanted to ask you a favor..." Rito swallows, as she stares up at him with doe eyes, and he becomes increasingly conscious of the lack of clothing acting as a thin barrier between both of them.

"Lala, while I would love to help you with whatever you are wanting me to do," he says finally succumbing to the need to cover his eyes and his embarrassment, "Could you please get Peke, or put a night shirt on, or at least put on anything other than just a towel?" Rito turned away to walk into his room to even grab her a shirt from his dresser, only for Lala's hand to roughly grab his elbow as he turned away, causing him to freeze in surprise at the strength of her grip. He turns back to see what was up, only to notice the almost embarrassed expression on her face, as she turned her face, mainly her eyes, away from him and blushed heavily.

"Rito- Rito I need you-" she says, still too embarrassed to meet his eyes. She bites her cheek and lip in a cute way, that causes Rito to lose focus for a moment. Suddenly he feels her move past him, still gripping his arm tightly, and roughly he gets pulled to his bed, where Lala maneuvers herself between the slightly open doorway and Rito with his back to the bed. Pushing him roughly down onto the far end of the foot of his bed, and following him onto it, she takes her time to crawl up and straddle his stomach, her towel somehow remaining in place, despite the roughness and force she used to get him in that position. Leaving down, she brushes her lips against his right ear, and her breath feels hot on his skin. Closing his eyes and praying Mikan, Nana, and Momo didn't stumble across this scene, he waited to see what she would do next, only to feel something hot and soft curl itself into his hand. He feels the weight of Lala shift over to the other side of his bed, springs creaking as Lala laid herself out across the rest of the bed, her back to Rito and the ceiling.

He hears something else, like a thud, in the distance, but he barely notices it as he was completely unable to hear it do to the ringing in his ears. Feeling Lala's tail coil itself around his forearm, unnaturally warm to the touch, he feels her try to guide him to her side, where she looked at him expectantly. "Well, are you going to do it?" she asks him calmly, her tail unwrapping itself from his arm, but softly pulling his hand to her lower back, "Come on Rito, I know you have experience; don't think I haven't heard..." Rito sputters at this, before Lala half turns herself towards him, propping her head on her elbow, a half bored and confused expression crossing her face. "Rito, did you even listen to what I asked of you?" She asks. Rito dumbly shakes his head, not trusting his words or actions currently, in case his unlucky curse of perversion managed to strike him in this situation at the most unfortunate of times.

Lala physically sighs and breathes a string of wet hair out of her face. She calmly grabs his hand and squeezes it gently. "I heard about your experience from Nemesis," she states, "I wanted you to give me a massage, just like you gave her one too!" Rito takes a moment to process this, before his jaw falls slack and he slightly yells out in utter disbelief. "Rito?" Lala asks, noticing he had gone quiet, her words sinking in heavily, "Rito, are you okay?" Rito's face goes dark for a second, a shadow passing over his eyes before he looks up, completely normal and happy, even smiling at Lala like nothing had happened.

"Sure Lala, I'll give you a massage!" he states, "I misunderstood completely, because you took my breath away..." Yuuki Rito then and there resigns himself to his fate, knowing clearly that this was his punishment set up by Nemesis for deciding to break Mea's and Yami's feelings. That cold fish could set up some really twisted revenge schemes, though Rito felt this one was more or less meant to cause him to embarrass himself in front of Lala, probably hoping he would somehow slip up and incur Nana's, or even Mikan's wrath. Rito Yuuki decided he would go with the flow and not fight it, he was going to embarrass himself one way or the other, he just hoped whatever happened, Lala would forgive him for it later. He would prove Nemesis wrong, just this once, and then perhaps he could gain some confidence in himself, showing he was greater than the disease that afflicted him.

Rito then decides what he has to do, and has Lala return to her position, flat on her stomach. Getting around her feet and on Lala's left side of her body, Rito carefully suspends himself above Lala's almost nude form, happy the towel was still in place. Doing what just came natural to him, from easing his own sore muscles, and letting his body do the work, he started with Lala's shoulders. Finding nothing but some light knots easily kneaded out, he begins to follow the path of her spine, feeling for any tight spots he could rub the pain away. Finding the towel in his way, he decides to speak up. "Do you mind if I remove the towel?" he asks, his voice cracking a bit at his own boldness, "It will be in the way, and I won't be able to feel anything because it is too thick..." Nodding her affirmation, he exposes Lala's back, but keeps the towel wrapped from her tailbone and below. He finds her tail snaking above the towel, gently lowering itself over the cloth to keep it from slipping any lower.

Just as he finds a spot above her tail, he hears another thud, this time followed by the opening of the door. This causes Rito to freeze in his place, before slowly turning his head towards the door in panic, the movement sounding like a rusted gate creaking in his head. Nana Astar Deviluke stood at the entrance to Rito's bedroom, eyes glinting like stars, filled with fire and brimstone and anger, all directed at Rito Yuuki. "Yuuki Rito..." Nana says icily, "Yuuki Rito, what are you doing with Ane-ue, you B _east_?" At that Rito tries to explain the situation, Lala loudly chiming in to placate her sister's anger, only for it all to be ignored as Nana pulls out her D-Dial.

It was then that Rito knew he had to act quickly, so he slammed the door on Nana, activated the entryway to his Cyber Hangout, and quickly grabbed Lala and her towel and jumped into the Cyber portal. Needless to say, Rito Yuuki remained in Cyberspace until morning, unable to sleep with Lala happily snuggling into him all night long.


	4. Love, Pears, and Dark Matter

_Disclaimer: I do not own To Love-Ru_

 _Also to fairly warn my readers, there are some suggestive ideas conveyed in this chapter, but nothing explicitly stated. You have been WARNED._

 _Also would like to mention my Summary has been updated as well, to reflect the chapters established so far... to the best of my knowledge, it shouldn't be too confusing._

* * *

To say Rito had a fitful sleep would be saying it mildly. With the presence of Lala sharing his bed, and the thought of bodily harm come the morning by Nana, to say Rito was stressed was an understatement. Finally his tired mind was able to find a speck of calmness among the quiet room, among the soft snores of Lala, as she snuggled almost naturally into his arms. The thoughts of the threat of death left his mind, as the warmth and closeness of Lala calmed him, and sleep took him to the land of dreams.

 _Zzzzzzzz..._

Rito opened his eyes to find himself on a stretch of rolling, green hills, dotted with flowers of every kind he could imagine, some of them familiar, and others alien. The scent of ginger and pears seemed to waft through the air on the hills, with the blue sky above his head filled with fluffy clouds that looked as tasty as marshmallows. Sitting up, Rito can't help but notice the shimmering lake below him, sun shining happily upon its surface, reflecting the rolling hills and Rito himself in its waters. He was amazed at the lovely breeze he felt upon his face, and the sun shining warmly on his skin. It was then that he noticed shadows in the corners of his eye, and he turns to find Lala, Nana, Momo, Mikan, and Celine in swimsuits, playing in the lake.

"Rito!" Lala calls out from the lake, waving as Celine and Mikan splash in the shallows, "Rito, come join us out here!" Wondering how he could, since he wasn't wearing swim trunks, he looks down and notices that he was wearing a pair of blue trunks. "Rito, come join us!" Lala calls out again, "Rito!" He turns back and notices Rin, Run, Yui, and Haruna have joined them in their own swimsuits as everyone played in the water, splashing each other and laughing.

"I'm on my way!" Rito says, running down the hill to join them, "Wait up for me!" Suddenly loosing his footing on a rock, he falls to the ground and tumbles down the rest of the way to the base of the Lake. Having closed his eyes as he fell, he brushes dirt and grass off his face and opens his eyes to find him surrounded by Lala, Momo, and Run, all with concern on their faces.

"Rito-kun, are you okay?" Run asks, crouching down and rubbing a speck of dirt he missed, "We wouldn't want you hurt all the way out here!" She smiles cheerfully, and with Lala's and Momo's help, manages to pull and push Rito to his feet.

"Rito," Momo says, grabbing Rito's left arm, "Come join me and Nana building sand castles!" She begins to pull him one way, before Lala grabs his right arm and clutches tight to him.

"No, Rito, join me with Mikan in the water!" she says cheerfully, "Celine wants her 'papa' to join her too!" Rito looks over to see Mikan and Celine still splashing in the water. Rito looks at Lala and Momo, and begins to sweat as each of them seem to pull him tighter and tighter their way.

"Hey!" a new voice interjects, coming from farther up the shoreline, "We brought sweets!" Rito turns to see Mea and Yami each holding one side of a massive ice chest, Yami also holding a watermelon with her Trans ability. "Ice cream and watermelon!" Mea calls out, "Senpai, Momo-chan, Lala-senpai, come get some ice cream!" Grateful for the distraction, Rito feels their grips loosen, and he slips out to join Yami and Mea, as the others grab their own icy treats. Ending up with an ice pop flavored like sweet vanilla cream, he happily watched as everyone around him chatted happily, truly content with just being together.

Rito sees a shadow pass over him, and he turns to see a wicked looking treat in Lala's hands. The noxious, oily looking treat was sitting on an ice cream cone, slowly melting in the heat of the sun, dripping down between Lala's fingers. Rito was quite sure the treat was flavored with Dark Matter, the inedible to human seasoning that Lala devoured like nothing, probably due to her Devilukian nature. "Rito," Lala says, between nibbles of her own treat, "Do _-slurp-_ y-you, want a bit of mine?" Rito pauses just a second, pulling his ice cream away, noticing a hungry look in Lala's eyes. Too late, as Lala lunged at Rito's out stretched hand, managing to take a bite out of the tip of his ice pop in his right hand, even though he had pulled it back.

Unfortunately Lala also had her vile ice cream in her right hand, and as she lunged forward, it managed to not only get onto Rito's face, missing his open mouth of course, but a fairly good sized chunk fell from his chin onto his exposed neck and shoulder. Lala pulls back, with a smile on her face. "Tasty!" she says, admiring the flavor, before she notices part of her own ice cream had dripped onto Rito, "Oh no, I'm sorry Rito, I didn't mean to make a mess!" Rito tried to tell the Deviluke girl it was fine, that he just need a napkin to wipe the substance off, but she would have none of it. "You can't just waste a tasty treat like that Rito!" she exclaimed, "It's just not right!" Trying to pull out of her reach, Rito found himself locked tight in her embrace, her bust pushed up against him, as she leaned onto his chest, his back somehow to the ground as he fell caught by surprise.

"Lala, no, don't-" he whimpers out, as Lala came down on to his exposed chest, "S-stop, _please_..." Lala first reached up to his chin where the creamy substance had first hit, and she licks the spot of dark matter left there, before moving on from his jaw line and onto his neck. Holding the nape of his neck in hand, she started from the back of his neck, sucking on the dark liquid that seemed to be seeping into his skin. Rito fights back a moan of pleasure, trying to instead endure Lala's innocent actions. Noticing the liquid about to drip down further, she stops and moves to the lowest point, licking upwards from just above his pecks, to the jugular area of his neck.

Lala sucks _hard_ , on Rita's exposed skin, causing his restraint to break. With a moan escaping his lips, he feels Lala let go and stares into her eyes. Putting her finger to her bottom lip, she wipes away a drop of dark matter onto her finger, and then sucks the last drop off of it. "Tasty," she says, before Rito suddenly becomes extremely conscious of his body's reaction, "Let me eat you some more, Rito..." Before he can even reply, she's back to sucking on his neck, hard, then softer, until-

 _Zzzzzzzzzz..._

-Lala wakes up, realizing she was sucking on Rito's collarbone, leaving a small purple bruise, and managed to accumulate a small bit of drool on him. Slightly embarrassed, she wipes it off with her thumb, and as gently as she can without waking Rito, moves off of him and his bed and leaves Rito's Cyber space to return to her room and hopefully placate Nana. She knew her younger sister was overly protective of her 'innocent' elder sister, the same could almost have been said of Momo, but both of her younger siblings needed to realize that she was, in fact, a grown woman, and had a strong enough conviction so as to not just let anyone sway her feelings, or outright take advantage of her.

While Momo could be said to be like their Mother, in looks, charm, and seductive qualities, and Nana could be likened to their Father, with her frank, blunt reasoning, and a outwardly hidden maturity which made it hard to properly convey her feelings, Lala could consider herself the best blend of both. Sure she didn't have a unique power like Nana or Momo did, but she had her technical ingenuity of her Mother, the strength inherited by her Father, and a heart all of her own, big enough to love Rito for all his quirks even if his heart belonged to another, self sacrificing enough to even let Rito marry another, if she could gain his love in return. Rito was another boy after all, and she had met many potential suitors over her short life that were just boys, and they all were able to be read.

Stepping into the shower, foregoing returning to her room straightway, she needed to clean up, so that Peke wouldn't scold her if she was deemed 'indecent' by her mothering creation. She began to reflect on the choices that led her and her sisters to this place, in Rito's life and his heart. Rito had been so repressed before she came here, unable to get out of a spiral of self-doubt due to mistrust and suspicion by those around him; ever since She had begun to interfere with his routine, it seems Rito was breaking out of his social martyrdom. Perhaps that was her own special ability, bring emotions to the surface, and to read the hearts on people's sleeves, to decipher the emotions and meanings behind people's words, actions, and feelings.

Perhaps it was just her Charmian nature at work, perhaps stronger in her blood than her sisters, not enough to cause the problems her Mother faced together with her Father, but enough to get a surface understanding. It was a curse, perhaps it was the Charmian's true ability at work, to bring the emotions to the surface and reveal a persons true heart, beyond the surface emotions, the base emotions that people hid within themselves. Perhaps the Charmian outer beauty and vanity, was a way to hide this ugly truth from the universe, from even the Charmian's themselves.

Finishing up in the shower, she quickly began to dry her body off and brush her hair for the morning. After completing her morning ritual, Lala finally decided to face Peke. Moving to the bathroom door, she opens it to find Momo already reaching for the handle. Stopping and staring for a moment, Lala smiles as she realizes Momo could know how Nana was feeling this morning, and gauge her sister's attitude towards Rito as a result. "Momo, it's a good thing-" she begins, only for her younger sister to shoulder past her coldly. Lala turns around in slight surprise, but finds her self off balance as Momo pushes her out of the bathroom.

"Sorry Onee-chan, but I have to hurry," she says, "Nana's not in a good mood this morning, so you better tell Rito to keep his head on his shoulders around her, and not do anything perverted towards you..." At that the door is slammed in Lala's face, leaving her stunned for a moment. Blinking, Lala can find nothing odd about her interactions with Momo the night prior, though it could have happened after Rito dragged her into his Cyber space with him. When Lala and Nana had built it, Nana suggested a unique feature to add to the gateway, and Momo had hated its conception ever since she had found out.

Originally it was bounced around as a safety measure for Celine, and even Mikan, who could wander into an active gateway, not that they would violate their privacy and enter the Princess' rooms, but as a hypothetical situation, if they were to do so on accident, measures needed to be taken. Rito's gateway to Cyber space being in his room, almost everyone could find their way inside it and accidentally get lost or confused in Cyber space, and no one could ever know, so a genetic lock was put into place. Due to its familial nature, it was decided only Rito and Mikan could activate the portal, not one of the Deviluke sisters would have access to the space, and neither would Celine or any of Rito's friends; keeping both privacy and respect for the users. They could, however, allow others through once the gateway was open, shutting it off from the inside if so desired, to allow true privacy for Rito or Mikan if they desired. It was an incident like last night, for Rito's own safety and sanity,that he made the spur of the moment decision to flee to cyber space, bringing herself along with him out of concern.

In a way, Lala was truly happy, knowing he cared about her safety like that, ignoring the fact Nana was her sister and likely would have only hurt Rito, he still thought of her and wanted her safety to be his concern. It was that self sacrificing loyalty that made her love for him still beat as strong as the day they first met. She knew he would never admit it, but her love for him was starting to affect him, as the days went by and Haruna's mysterious absence grew ever longer. She wanted him to be happy though, knowing it was Haruna that held his heart the strongest, she wanted to be there to support him, whether he wanted to choose the harem or not. She only wished his safety though, his forced engagement to her was no longer an issue, but the threat of her father, angry over the inevitable rejection she once saw coming, kept him from ever breaking it off with her.

Lala Satalin Deviluke was surely, not stupid, no matter the opinion of Zastin or her sisters. She often got them to make up, after all. Yes, Lala Deviluke was much like her father, forward and honest about her feelings to the point she had no censor, but she was so much like her mother beyond brains and looks, she showed it in her own small manipulations based on love, her diplomatic skills and tactical genius twisting situations in her favor as she faced them head on. She would deal with Rito Yuuki in the same way, the boy who became a man, who stole her heart and showed her why it belonged to him everyday they were together. Lala had a big heart, with lots of room to love, but no one honest enough to be worthy of it, while Rito Yuuki had so much love to give, with very little outlet beyond his brother-sister bond.

Yuuki Rito could be hurt as easily as he could be protective. He could be as indescisive as he could be loved. Yuuki Rito could be a Harem King, just as easily as he could be a Loving King of Deviluke.

Lala Satalin Deviluke had seen what Rito could become, she saw what he could do. He could turn weapons of war into instruments of peace, he could make the coldest heart, warm. He could be the savior of Earth, and the greatest King of Deviluke, and he could just as easily become the cruelest tyrant, with a simple twist of fate. She would make sure that whatever Rito's choice was, he would have the love and support he needed to make the choices needed. If Momo's Harem Plan was what was needed, then so be it, but she also knew the terrible truth. The seeds were already being sown, and what terrible consequences they may reap.

 _Meanwhile_

Momo is staring in her vanity, trying to understand her sister. If Nana hadn't come when she did, she may not have believed it, but their lack of sister by the late hour of the night, had all but proven Lala's guilt. ' _Guilt over what?_ ' Momo thought to herself, ' _The only thing Lala is guilty of, is asking her Fiance for a massage..._ ' Momo knew what Nana had seen after all, she had been there only minutes before, having stumbled upon the scene first, after all...

 _She had just gotten ready to go into the shower, only for Nana to slip in and take up any chance of a 'private' shower for herself. Excusing herself, she informed Nana she would just take one after Nana, stating some fib about wanting hot water pressure to be 'just right', and Nana shrugged her off. Knowing Rito had likely come out of his Cyber Hangout by now, she trudged up the stairs to try and seduce him once more, and get him to proclaim his love for her, and do naughty... She had gotten off track, as her mind wandered, and she managed to fall and make a loud thump as she tripped right next to Rito's open door. Not wanting to move, as she saw Rito on the bed with his eyes closed, looking away from the door, to a spot she couldn't see. Hearing springs creak, Momo was curious who was in the room with him, before she hears her sisters voice from the bed._

 _"Come on Rito, I know you have experience," she heard Lala say, much to Momo's exasperation, wondering just what she thought he was experienced in, "Don't think I haven't heard..." Heard? Heard from where? Momo thought back to who Rito could have been brave enough to do something to and found... Well, she really couldn't find it in Rito to do anything besides... Momo blushed furiously as she realizes something only she had thought she had ever experienced before, was also something Lala had no doubt learned of, living with Lala for a year, before she herself had ever experienced his nighttime personality._

 _Thoughts crossed Momo's mind that she had never thought her sister possible of ever crossing, and unconsciously her hand went to her tail. Shaking her thoughts clear, she found she might have to make a tactical decision. Unable to help herself any longer, and knowing she might just give herself away if she stayed, Momo decided to ignore Rito and Lala, in favor of advancing the Harem Plan further, and praying Rito stepped his game up. Minutes later when she absentmindedly lets it slip that she saw Lala in Rito's room after joining Nana in the shower, accompanied by the furious blush crossing her face as she fiddled with her tail, Nana snap[ed to attention and quickly rushed out of the bathroom._

Now knowing her sister had no doubt slept in Rito's arms the night before, she could only wonder what made her sister so brave, so as to approach Rito so boldly. Her sister had changed since the previous summer, her feelings toward Rito seemed to change as Rito's third and final year at Sainan High approached him. She seemed to have been pushing Rito hard towards Haruna, and pulling punches toward herself as well. It wasn't like Lala to hold back her feelings, not as heiress to Deviluke, or as an elder sister, making them clear as crystal. So what was it that made Lala change her attitude? Had she come to accept some hidden fact, kept secret from everyone but Rito and herself? Momo knew that this was a line of questioning for another day,but she couldn't help her thoughts from wondering...

What changed between Rito and Lala that day?


	5. Defensive and Protective

_Disclaimer: Do not Own_

Rito woke up to the faint smell of pears and ginger on his pillows, and a bed of dying warmth. He realized that he must have fallen asleep with Lala, and that she must have just gotten up mere moments before him, as the bed was still warm from where she had laid next to him the night previous. Quite surprised not waking up to the sight of a naked woman, Rito almost felt a pang of sadness. Almost.

Choosing to disregard that fleeting emotion, he gets ready for the day, and is the last one to the table for breakfast. It seemed Mikan had prepared breakfast again, and everyone was already in various stages of eating. Nana and Rito seemed to have both arrived late, as everyone else seemed to be almost finished with their dishes. It seemed that Nana was also only slightly pissed off at him, hopefully due to Lala having told her of what had really happened, and got her to slightly forgive him. No doubt when Lala's back was turned, he would no doubt be punished for the misunderstanding, but it seemed she wanted to keep up appearances with her elder sister in the same room.

Rito equally was thankful for Lala's presence, since it seemed that Momo too seemed to be holding off from her normal numerous advances and innuendos. Perhaps it was the sharp glare Mikan had been sending her way, once Rito had walked into the room and sat down. Tehn again, Mikan just didn't trust Momo like she did Lala or Nana, even Rito could see that in these past months, though it had gotten a little better as time went on. He didn't know if that meant Mikan was starting to become tolerant of Momo, or whether she was just tired of running into the same awkward spots he ended up in inevitably with any of the Deviluke sisters or his various female friends.

Sighing, Rito finished up his breakfast and began to clean up his dishes. Going into the kitchen, where Mikan and Lala had already begun cleaning their own, he makes his way to the sink and adds his dirty dishes to the pile. Mikan turns to him as he walks by, and catches his attention. "Rito, I need you to go out shopping with Nana this morning, we're needing to get some more meat and veggies for dinner and more food for the rest of the week," she states, before moving to another dish Lala hands her, "Nana needs to learn not to snack on everything in the fridge when she feels like it, so she needs to go with you so both of you can ensure the food gets back here for tonight's meal!" Nana whines from the kitchen entry, as she manages to catch the latter half of the conversation.

"I was going to have lunch in the park with Mea-chan this afternoon, those 'snacks' were going to tide us over!" she looks sadly at Mikan, trying to pull off puppy eyes, "Besides Mikan, I don't want to go with this lecherous beast, he might assault me at a moments whim, or embarrass me in a public place, or violate my body in some other, equally perverted way!" Nana's eyes seemed to be glowing with an ethereal fire as she sweetly worded her phrases toward Mikan, though he could feel the venomous undercurrents directed towards him. Mikan was stone faced as she glared at Nana in response, causing the Deviluke girl to flinch in response and chuckle slightly. "R-right, go with the irresponsible beast and be his leash," Nana states, "I-I'll make sure he gets home without doing anything too perverted or shameless- maybe even make it home without _any_ incidents."

Nana's confidence aside, Rito was happy he might just have a moment alone with her. She might kill him, but he had that as a likely option just deciding to approach her to ask about her feelings. At the most she would end up killing him, and ending the matter all at once, the least she would do would just bodily torture him for insinuating there was anything between them, imaginary or not. Sighing and accepting his unlucky fate, Rito got himself ready and met Nana at the door. "We're heading out!" He called back inside to ensure they knew he and Nana left, "Let's go Nana." The pinkette merely grumbled at that, before following him from the house and to the store. Rito knew it was going to be a long day, if the second princess of Deviluke was going to act like this.

 _Later at the Convenience Store_

"Nana, can you grab some _nori_ for the _onigiri_ Mikan is going to make tomorrow," Rito points Nana to the dried seaweed, as he goes for items a bit further up and on the other side of the aisle, "How about we go for the rice, then the other vegetables we'll need..." As Rito is reading off his list his sister sent with them, he turns while distracted and barely looks up in time to see he had caught Nana's arm in the basket he was carrying, as she attempted to put the item into it. Dropping the piece of fluttering paper to the ground, Rito tries to pull back and correct Nana's balance, only for him to slip on the waxed floor, and dropping his basket of ingredients on the floor and spilling everything out of it.

Having dropped everything, Rito was surprised to find he hadn't hit his head on impact with the floor, though he did have the wind knocked out of him with Nana having toppled onto him afterwards. Trying to regain his senses, he realizes his hands are currently in inappropriate places on Nana's figure. Her non-existent chest wasn't really a problem, as long as he didn't bring it up, but his hand resting partly on her rear end, just below her skirt line, was another matter entirely. Bolting up from his spot on the floor, he can't help but babble as he tries to apologize. "Na-Nana, I'm sorry, please d-don't hurt me!" he cries out, kneeling on the floor as he awaits execution, "L-let me help you up, or let me get all this stuff picked up so you can get up, j-just please don't kill me I've been trying my hardest to stop embarrassing-" He feels the sting before he even hears the crack of her hand against his face.

Putting his hand to the reddening area of his cheek, he notices Nana currently has tears in her eyes, as her face turns red with anger. "Just shut up, Yuuki Rito, stop giving all these excuses about 'curses' and stop pretending to be a gentleman," she states, eyes downcast as she keeps going, "You're nothing, Yuuki; you mess around with both of my sisters almost everyday in some way, your so-called friends aren't able to escape your ' _mistakes_ ' in the safety of their own school, even your _sister_ , a person you should be protecting instead of groping, isn't immune to your perverted acts!" She stops what he is doing and begins to pick up the fallen items near her, harshly yanking the basket from Rito's hands in the process. "You think this is all just a game, don't you Yuuki, that you can just lead all of our hearts around by little red strings, and cut them off once you get what you really want," Nana coldly states in a voice just above a whisper, "Do you even know why Haruna isn't in our school anymore, have you even asked any of her friends why the one you 'claim to love', hasn't even been going to our school anymore?"

Rito was going for some pickled ume, only for his hand to be cut on the jars broken glass, the sharp edges having been revealed once the broken jar was turned over. He tried to stop the blood, as his heart was being cut to pieces. "No, I didn't think so," Nana continues, "Why tell the man who is considered the school's number two pervert, the man mistrusted due to supposed 'acts of god', a man who seems to have eight or so girls wrapped around his finger, and who is sullying their reputations just by being near them..." The Udon noodles remained intact, thankfully, though he doesn't think he can salvage the ume, so he'll have to go back and get so more. He still has to pick up some rice for the week as well, since it seemed like they always were so low- "Are you even listening to me, you womanizer?" she asks, grabbing his wrist as he goes to pick up the noodles from where they spilled out, "Are you wanting me to beat the crap out of you? Do you even care about their feelings anymore Yuuki, or are you just that heartless?" He really tries to cool his simmering anger, but the grip on his wrist is just too tight, and he really wants those noodles for Mikan's cooking.

"We just need to get some rice, some fresh vegetables, and some fish and beef from the store," he says lowly, "Then you can either follow me home and yell at me some more there, or you can just beat me up as soon as we go outside, for no reason at all, other than your pissed off at me for something I'm trying my damnedest to control..." He feels her grip weaken a bit, and flexes his wrist to break her hold. "You know what, I don't care if you yell at me, if you're still pissed at me for last night, but I didn't particularly want to spend time in a neck brace because you sent one of your alien monsters to trample me," he states calmly, as he collects the last of the spilled food into Nana's basket, "If you want to yell at me, go ahead, but do it after we take the food home, and after we leave this store, before you get us both kicked out or worse." Nana narrows her eyes at him, but she quickly gets up and picks up the fallen shopping list, left forgotten in the disarray.

"The park, after lunch, we have things to discuss," she says, as robotic as possible, "You'll come with me and I'll try not to beat the crap out of you with Mea's help, around the place Mea and I first became friends." She looks back at him for a moment, contempt in her eyes. "I know you think it's all just been fun and games, but your choices have a way of catching up to you, Yuuki Rito," she says, "When will you learn your actions and indecision are breaking hearts as much as wooing them?"

After tense moments of shopping and a quiet walk back to the Yuuki household, Rito found himself saddled with the bags and a heavy heart. "Here Mikan," he states, "They're pretty much organized, so all you need to do is sort out where to put them." Mikan thanks him for completing the task, but she notices how he flinches at the briefest touch as he passes off the bags. "I'm going to go to my room, call me when lunch is ready," he states emotionless, already walking away, "Oh, hello Momo." As Rito passes the other girl, he can't help it but not be surprised by the youngest Deviluke sister's cold shoulder, which he had already earned this morning for something he was no doubt responsible for.

Almost running up the stairs, he can't help but be happy Nana seemed to have stuck with staying downstairs, after Mea had arrived. The red headed living weapon had given her usual morning greeting, before joining Nana on the couch, watching some animal documentary on the television. Rito took that time to walk into his room and face plant onto his bed. His thoughts were swirling, but he knew he was just angry at himself, more than Nana. She was right, of course, when wasn't she? He was a screw up, a failure as an older brother, who had gone from some repressed, lonely, lovesick child, to an unrepressed, perverted, klutzy, confused, and hormonal teenager, who had friends but was always alone because he caused them too much trouble.

He hadn't even thought that Haruna might have had a reason to leave, he had always been an outcast in school, and he hadn't ever thought of approaching her friends. He had tried her sister, though that hadn't panned out since she hadn't returned to her place either, and it seemed she had temporarily moved out after summer had ended, with no forwarding address at all. Haruna's sister seemed to work for some kind of paper, of course, it wasn't too hard to assume she had been hired for some globetrotting reporting, causing Haruna to have to move in with her parent's and switch schools. It had been months, after all, since he had seen her, and he wasn't even really one of Haruna's friends, at least not enough for him to even be called by her.

Sighing, he turns to his closed door and notices that his portal to his Cyber Hangout had been activated. Except Mikan was downstairs, and he hadn't even touched the genetic lock when he closed his door behind him. Someone was inside his space, and frankly he didn't care who it was. Rito proceeded to open up his closet and rifle through the things he hid in the back, before coming across the gift Zastin had given him prior to ending their after school training regimen. Pulling out the wooden practice sword, he goes for the secondary sword he hides behind it. Pulling out the weighted blade, he adjusts the grip in his hand. It may just be another practice sword, but this one still was metal and had edges like Zastin's, though they were dulled. Whoever managed to invade his private domain, breaking through something both Lala and Nana had built together, meant that they were dangerous. He couldn't let them do something to Nana Mikan, Celine, Momo, or Lala, no matter what they thought about him. He needed to protect them, no matter what.

He hoped it was Nemesis, though, but cause at least then he couldn't get hurt. The nymph may have been evil, but she had mellowed out ever since Rito had saved her, still she was chaotic, as the need to invade his space would show. He hoped it wasn't Black, or some other assassin sent out to take his life, because they must have been poor assassins to set such an obvious trap. He really hoped Momo hadn't cracked the genetic lock and in attempting to do so broke the entrance to his Cyber place. It would have explained why she ignored him, since she wouldn't want to be connected to the malfunctioning door. Stepping into the portal, he found himself at the entrance to his space. Hitting the emergency closure button on the inside, Rito Yuuki watched it sputter and die behind him. No whoever was here, was trapped with him. Rito really hoped that wasn't a mistake on his part.


	6. Declaration of Intent

Taking his sword in hand, Rito Yuuki looks up the pathway from the now closed portal conjoining the cyber world to the real world. The cobblestone path way to his house and the green house were lined with flowers, none of which seemed to have been disturbed by anyone at first glance. That meant they knew what they were looking for, that they knew what they were doing. They had taken the time to break Lala's biological lock mechanism. Rito took little solace in these new facts, since it didn't really help finding out who it could be invading his personal sanctuary.

If it was a professional assassin, he could see them just setting up a trap elsewhere in the city, not going to all these lengths so as to break into his house when Red headed Mea and Golden Darkness, the two top destructive assassins and living weapons, were known visitors. Besides the fact anything that could get any of the three Deviluke princess' living in his house, would set off the King of the friggin galaxy after whoever did this, and more than likely result in a fate worse than death, carried out by the King of Deviluke himself. Rito took just a little solace in that, since it was likely if he did die, Lala, Momo, and maybe Nana, would cause whoever offed him a whole lifetime worth of pain. Rito on the other hand, did not want to die today, he did not want to get his sister, Celine, or the Deviluke sisters caught in the crossfire, and most of all he wanted to show he could defend himself. He hadn't spent the latter half of the prior summer and early fall training with Zastin, for nothing.

He had learned viable life skills and sword skills, and even honed his above natural reflexes, reaction time, and stamina in an attempt to become useful. He couldn't say he wasn't inspired by all these strong women around him, they may have used him as a weapon, sometimes there punching bag, sometimes even their confidant, but he sure as heck wasn't able to protect them like they often ended up doing him. Lala, Nana, Momo all had inborn strength and ability that exceeded a humans capabilities, while Mea, Yami, and Nemesis were all living weapons, Rito himself wanted to take what skills he had and twist them into something he could use. If he could be more than just a steady, dependable guy, if he could be a hero even once and show he was more than just a perverted loner, he could finally gain the confidence he had been lacking.

Walking up to his front door in his musings, Rito found the door wide open, with the spare key underneath the mat still in the lock. He never kept it locked, of course, but on the off chance he did lock himself out, he'd have a way in. Strange, as only Mikan and Lala had known he had put that key there, though only Mikan knew he kept the place unlocked. Drawing his sword, preparing for anything, he cautiously entered the duplicate house. Strangely everything seemed untouched, nothing searched or out of place. Walking into the kitchen, he sees nothing was moved there either. Hearing something coming from his room above, Rito quickly and quietly moves from the empty rooms up the padded stairs, thankful that the carpet muffles the sound. Had it been an exact replica of his house, Rito would have no doubt tripped at that second step from the top, thankfully this house wasn't an exact replica, and he could sneak a peek inside his room without alerting the intruder.

Just as he was about to peek in, he sees a shadow move against the wall, and he freezes. He hears them muttering to themselves as they walk around his room, before he hears his bed creak and a drawer slide open. After a few seconds of silence, the drawer closes, and Rito takes the chance as a distraction, hoping to pull off a surprise attack. "Stand down, intruder!" Rito yells as he forces his door open all the way, before leveling his sword, "I don't know how you got in here, but I'm willing to bet Lala Satalin Deviluke won't be happy you-" Rito stops and blinks at the intruder. The intruder does likewise, before a blush creeps up from their neck to the bridge of their nose. "Lala?" Rito says confused, lowering his blunted weapon, "How did you even get in here?" To Rito's amusement, it appeared something must have happened to the girl, as she was without Peke and dressed haphazardly in her spare clothes.

"R-Rito!" she says, clearly surprised to see her fiance there, "S-sorry, I-I lost something important from my D-Dial last night- it was really important that I find it." Rito sees her back is to his side drawer, a hand lingering behind. She notices his eyes, and she blushes, knowing she was caught. "R-Rito, I can explain..." she states, deciding to change the subject and remove her hand from behind her back, "I know I wasn't supposed too, but I never actually erased my access to your Cyber Hangout, because I know how smart you are Rito." She actually takes a few steps forward, revealing the top two buttons of her blouse were not closed, showing a little bit of her bust. Rito coolly tries to play it off, but he can't help but avert his eyes as he blushes just a bit. "I knew if anything happened to you, were you locked yourself inside here and Mikan wasn't available..." Lala blushes as she puts a finger to her mouth and bites her nail, embarrassed to be telling him this, "I wanted to make sure someone had access to reach you, I wouldn't want you to do anything rash and lock everyone out..."

Rito blushes and looks at Lala once more, her eyes shining with sincerity and concern. "L-lala..." he starts to say, "You didn't have to hide something like this from me; be happy I didn't have anything that could have hurt you..." Lala laughs a little bit at that, something that causes Rito's heart to flutter. "I glad you were thinking of me like that, I wouldn't want to push any of you away, if something bad ever happens to me," Rito states, but he seems to see her face flash with a pang of hurt, before returning to a smile, "Lala, there's something I want to ask you..." She stops him with a finger to his lips, and a genuine smile on her lips as she inches towards his face.

"Stop, you don't have to tell me now, if you aren't ready yet," Lala says, putting a hand to his shoulder and staring into his eyes, "I trust you'll make a decision, Rito, and it will make you happy." Rito reflexively closes his eyes, a tad bit uncomfortable with this closeness, but he feels Lala near his face. "I love you Rito Yuuki," Lala whispers as she rests her head on his shoulder, "I can't- I just can't stand to see you hurt because of me..." Rito stiffens in her arms and pulls her away.

"Lala, what are you saying?" Rito asks, realizing that Lala was starting to cry, "I don't understand, what's wrong" Suddenly Lala pitches forward and begins crying into his arms again. Rito doesn't know what to do.

"R-rito, I can't tell you b-but you're going to find out s-soon," she says, her words muffled by his shoulder, "I'm going to be strong, I'm going to pretend, but I- I want y-I wanted to stay..." Rito's heart begins to thump in his chest, as panic begins riding up in his chest. "Rito, please, no matter what, don't forget me," Lala says, pulling away from him and rubbing at her reddening eyes, "Don't think too much about what Nana or Momo think, don't lose that kindness in your heart, and- I need you to pretend this never happened, and I need you to pretend I never was here- you can't even tell Saruyama or Mikan I was here!" Her expression has changed like switching a flip, and Rito notices the burning courage behind her words.

"O-ok, Lala, whatever you say," Rito says, confused by this conversation, but not wanting to make her anymore upset, "I-I think we should go and cool down, and try and fix this later." Lala nods, and both teens leave the room and exit the house. As they are walking down the stairs and out the door it's like a cloud of silence had descended.

"I have to go see Nana, but we can talk about this later," Rito says, breaking the ice, as he practically drags Lala down the path to the exit, "I'm sure we can get it all straightened out..." Lala stops and reflexively tightens her grip on Rito's wrist, enough so that Rito has to stop and turn, as he sees Lala looking at him scared.

"No, no, promise me Rito!" she almost shouts in her frightened tone, "You can't tell anyone, you can't bring this up, ever again Rito Yuuki, not even if my Father comes knocking on your door with the Deviluke army behind him." Rito pales a little at this, but gulps and nods at Lala's frightening demand. She lets go and pauses as Rito opens the portal. Just as Rito is about to leave with him, Lala grabs the back of Rito's shirt and twists him around before wrapping his arms around him. Leaning up on her toes, Lala does the last thing Rito ever expected as he tips back from the sudden shift in weight. His eyes open, he feels her lips smash against his as they tumble through the rift, and back into Rito's room.

 _Rito's Room_

Quickly closing the distance between the door and Rito's bed, they stumble and fall onto the springy surface. Her lips still mashed against his, Rito doesn't know what to say as he parts his lips and feels Lala's tongue against his own. Suddenly he feels her shift on the bed and pull away gasping for air. Rito couldn't say he wasn't gasping for breath, but he almost felt his heart stop at the scene before him. Nana or Momo, he couldn't tell which, had opened the door and both of them were staring in at the mess of bodies on the bed. Nana almost looked like her heart was breaking, as she stared at Rito on the bed kissing her sister. Mikan looked a mixture of pissed off and exasperation, thinking this was just another one of Rito's 'accidents' involving the eldest princess. Rito didn't quite care, as Lala seemed to drag him back under her spell.

He tried to break away, he really did, but it wasn't until he felt the shock, when Lala had pulled away for another breath of air, that he knew Nana had attacked him. As he fell unconscious, he could have sworn he heard Lala and Nana fighting, though it seemed Mikan had come to help her older brother. When he wakes up, Mikan, Nana, and Lala are nowhere to be seen, his sword had been put away, and his room seemingly cleaned up a bit, with himself put into his bed. Getting up, he looks at the time and sees that it wasn't that late, and that he had plans to meet up with Nana after all.

As he got downstairs, he notices Mikan was watching as Celine was drawing on the table. "Mau!" the little alien plant hybrid says, looking happily at Rito "Mau, mau, mau, mau!" She's showing him some kind of picture, and Rito just smiles and states how he likes it, while ruffling the flower on the child's head.

"Onii-chan, Nana wanted me to convey to you that she's rescheduled your meeting, since she and Lala had a fight after you were knocked out by Nana's powers," Mikan states, looking to her older brother, "She says she wants you to meet her alone at Sainan High, supposedly you are going to meet up with Mea for dinner later." Rito nods as he feels Celine tugging at his pants. Looking down he picks up the smile child and bounces her up, as she wraps her small arms around Rito's shoulders.

"Mau" the child says patting his back, "Mau, mau, mau!" Pulling away Celine nods and gives Rito a thumbs up, at which he can only smile. Mikan takes Celine from him, as he waves goodbye and heads out the door. He hopes Celine's happy attitude can cheer him up, after whatever chewing out he's going to get by the 'responsible' Deviluke sister.

Reaching Sainan High wasn't an issue, and once there, he notices Nana right away sitting on some steps in her Deviluke attire. The frown on her face is concerning, though the chill in the air is probably why her cheeks appear to be a bit rosy. Finally noticing him, Nana's frown deepens considerably as he approaches her. "Nana/Rito I-" he states, as she does the same, "You go ahead..." Nana looks at him hesitantly, before biting her thumbnail.

"Rito I- I wanted to apologize for shocking you unconscious, I thought when I saw you on top of my sister like that- I overreacted," she states, "I've said something's today because I've been stressed since- well, since Lala got some news from Father a couple of days ago..." Rito swallows at this, knowing that any mention of Gid, was going to be something directed at him. Nana doesn't continue for a bit, before she looks up at him with a blush on her face. "Rito, my Father wants Lala- as her coming of age and maturity- Lala is expected to do things, things she is expected to as Deviluke Royalty," Nana starts, "Among one of those things is meeting potential suitors, another is getting close to the one she chooses as her main prospect... and when she reaches an age where she can marry and- p-produce an heir..." Nana stops as the words choke in her throat, and Rito begins to process what she is saying to him.

"Are you s-saying what I think..." Rito looks towards Nana, who covers her face with her hands as he talks, "Are you saying Lala's supposed to be marrying someone and having their- child?" Rito approaches Nana and grabs her hand gently. "When, why now, who?" he asks seriously, a burning in his heart beginning to surge, confidence lacing his voice, "Nana,who is Lala supposed to be with, if all she wants is-" Rito stops and lets go of her hand, as she peeks out of her hands, her eyes a bit puffy and red. "Nana, is it me?" he ask, "Nana, what happens if she doesn't get married, or produce an heir; would it go to either of you?" Nana lets go of her face and turns to look Rito in the eyes.

"Rito, if Lala doesn't marry you, if she doesn't marry any of her potential suitors by the end of the school year, and about a week into the summer, by our Father's decree as King of Deviluke, the royal daughters are to all return home," Nana states, "But it gets worse... Rito, you- you don't have to ask me..." Rito nods and tells her to continue saying what needs to be said. She swallows and looks at her feet, twiddling her thumbs as she talks, her tail dancing in the air behind her. "If you, Yuuki Rito, do not marry Lala Satalin Deviluke, by the end of school and beginning of summer, our Father will take it as a personal insult by a man who has once already rebuffed his Daughter's hand in marriage," she states, "While Earth was going to just be destroyed the first time, this time it's worse; the Earth will not only be conquered and forced to join the Deviluke Empire, the Yuuki family tree and its survivors from the conquest, will personally be either wiped out, or mercifully made slaves, depending on Father's decision.." Rito pales at hearing this, but then Nana keeps talking.

"There is also the very slim, but more likely option, that in conquering Earth, the Yuuki family in its entirety will be overlooked for the oversight, allowed to live their lives," Rito is happy at hearing this, but still Nana grimaces as she continues, "The reason being the sole aggressor, being you Rito, will instead become a political prisoner of the lowest regard, kept in our Father's private cells for those he despises most; the very last possible option being exile for you alone, meaning being given a shuttle and rations, and resulting in you being the number one wanted man for the rest of your life within the Milky Way Galaxy." Rito had gone green by this point, but he shakily is roused by Nana, who sees his eyes seem hollow of their normal light.

"How- how-" he just can't form sentences after that bomb dropped on his life. He thinks back to earlier and now he sees why Lala was reacting the way she was. He sits down, and Nana joins him with an awkward hug. "How can I stop it?" he asks, looking to Nana for an answer, "What does he expect me to do?" Nana nods and hugs him tightly.

"He sent Lala some stipulations regarding how she could either prevent, or annul the decree," she states, "Father is aware you are currently in love, or have interest, in many girls, or conversely they have interest in you," Nana states, "If Lala chooses another suitor from among the marriage candidates, or should you choose to pursue Lala, you must break off all emotional ties with those you either are interested in, or have interest in you, and provide testimony from them as to their forfeiting any claim or romantic interest in you, when our Father arrives." Rito's eye twitches a bit, as he thinks back to the irony of Saruyama's plan to deconstruct the Harem plan. "There is one other way to break it off, if an agreement cannot be reached," Nana states and Rito refocuses, "If any love interest cannot renounce their love for you, they have the right to challenge Lala for her status as heir apparent, and barring she actually loses, win the right to break off your engagement and take her place; essentially disgracing Lala, cutting her off from her inheritance and family, and resulting in her exile instead of yours." Rito's knuckles are white by this point, and if he did not fear the man so, he would chose to go up to Gid and punch him in the nose.

"I thought he was beginning to approve of me," Rito starts muttering to himself, "That damn selfish bastard doesn't even care about his daughter's love life, forcing her to have to marry when- when I'm the one who can't decide." Starting to tear up in anguish, Rito tries to get up, only to fall to his knees in tears. "Damnit, why can't my life be normal for once!" he cries out in rage to the sky, warm tears running down his face, "Why did she have to mess it all up, why did she have to make me so confused..." Nana gets up to see if he is alright, as he quiets down. "I'm supposed to be Haruna's **boyfriend** ," he states, pulling out his phone and looking at it, "She hasn't even called me once in six months, not even a text... I don't even know where she is, even if I wasn't forced to make this decision, **I don't even know if I** ** _love_** **her any more!** " Tossing his phone into the gathering darkness, he doesn't even notice Nana go to retrieve the device. All he can think about is the fact his life is so messed up now, and now he has to do the one thing he knows he's horrible at. He has to break the hearts of those he loves as family and friends, and he can't do a damn thing about it, or everyone loses.

Getting up once Nana returns with his phone, and he has calmed down a bit, he watches as the sun goes down and the lights go on in the streets. "Rito, let's go to dinner," Nana suggests, "Mea's going to join us at a place downtown she made reservations for, and we can talk this over tomorrow-" Rito holds out his hand at Nana, and she pauses as Rito looks up from the ground and into Nana's eyes.

"Nana Astar Deviluke, I, Rito Yuuki, am asking you as a princess of Deviluke and potential love interest, to understand that I cannot love you," Rito starts to say in a gentle voice, "While I see no attraction beyond friendship, feelings I do not doubt you share, as a potential marriage candidate, I ask that you renounce any indication of romantic interests in me, as I pursue the love and hand in marriage of your sister, Lala Satalin Deviluke; while you provide testimony to this at King Gid's request?" Nana looks a bit shocked at Rito's frank acceptance of his circumstances, but then again he had been exposed to the Deviluke lifestyle for sometime, no doubt just guessing as he said the words, but they felt right in their own way, acceptable to her at least.

"I, Nana Astar Deviluke,hear your request, Rito Yuuki, and concur with your decision," she says, plying her own part, and bowing as she speaks, "I do not wish to challenge you for my sister's love, as being your in-law is more than enough to continue the friendship we have on our own, a familial love." Nana smiles as Rito does in turn. "I think you have your work cut out for you Rito," she says in turn, "Any girl hearing that, might just take your words the wrong way and gain interest in you." Paling a bit, Nana can't help but laugh at his obliviousness to the teasing. "Come on hot shot, if you have the royal bug in you might as well get Mea on our page," she states, pulling him along towards their next destination, "You did good for your first declaration, but you've been around us enough to pick it up, I guess; you won't have to be so formal for the rest of them, except Momo probably, since we're royalty, so keep that in mind." Rito nods in response.

 _Later at Mea's Apartment_

"Thanks for letting us come back here, Mea," Nana states, "We really need to talk about something with you, so go ahead Rito!" Rito nods, as Mea stops in her living room to see what Nana was talking about. Rito breatehs in and out, going over what Nana and he had said they should mention to Mea.

"Mea Kurosaki, also known as Red-Haired Mea, I ask that you renounce any love for me," Rito states, "I am currently engaged to the Lala Satalin Deviluke, and as such require help from you regarding a delicate matter." He takes a deep breath and calms himself, as he starts to shake. "I know in times past you have been subject to Momo's Harem Plan, but I ask you help me prove my love for Lala," he continues, "Gid Lucione Deviluke requires your testimony stating you have rejected any romantic feelings towards me, as I attempt pursue my marriage to Lala, and prove my fidelity; will you help me?" Mea cocks her head curiously, and turns between Nana and Rito with a smile on her face. She then laughs for a moment and covers her hand to stifle the sounds.

"Are you kidding me right now?" she says seriously, "You think I'm in love with you?" She laughs even harder, as tears come to her eyes. "I know I thought you were gullible Rito-snepai, but I just am teasing you," she states, "I may have had some mixed feelings in the past, but I think what I love, is to tease you about your perverted side!" Suddenly she sees Nana isn't laughing, and neither is Rito sputtering.

"Mea, I need you to take this seriously," Nana says, "The earth, Rito, Lala, everyone is in a tight spot due to a decree my Father made a couple of days ago." Nana looks at Mea, as her smile leaves her face. "You will either have to reject or accept Riot's rejection," Nana states, "Otherwise you will be regarded as a challenger for the throne of Deviluke, and possibly pitted against Lala, or others, and face death or exile if you should survive the loss." Mea is blank, before a smile crosses her face.

"Sure, why not?" she states, before turning to Rito, "I Mea Kurosaki, the assassin known as Red-Haired Mea, accepts your rejection Yuuki Rito-senpai, and will not contest your marriage to Lala; heck if you need any help, I'll help you break up with other girls if necessary, just make sure I'm there when you face Yami or Momo, you will need my help there." Mea pauses, as Rito and Nana sink this in. Rito's jaw drops as he realizes he wasn't being challenged by Mea in anyway, against Nemesis' expectations of a broken heart and a weapon scorned. "Just one thing, Rito-Senpai," she slyly adds, "As long as after you're married and you have your honeymoon, I still get to tease you and tell your kids stories about their perverted father's high school life!" Rito's jaw drops, then closes, as he realizes this is actually something he had expected to come from Mea. Sighing and knowing defeat in compromise, he shakes his head and Mea squeals in delight.

"I hope they're all this easy," Rito states as he's pulled into a group hug between Nana and Mea, "We really don't need more drama with this..."

 _Nine Years Later_

The Deviluke flagship spins over the carcass of a gray and dying world. They had just left before the acid rains could make repairs to the ship worse, as they had to stop for emergency repairs on the only habitable planet in the nearest system. Of course it had been the only planet that was also quarantined and illegal to dock at or trade with. Having the current princess of Deviluke on board helped with that though. The purple eyes stare out the nearest window in curiosity, showing the retreating planet as the uninhabited remains of the biggest war in history is left behind. She had been told that that place had been in ruins since the King of Deviluke fought for his life there, leaving the desolate remains as a reminder to all those who oppose him.

Earth was a planet of scars and bad memories that made her head hurt. Uwe was thankful to leave that place, the pink haired Charmian/Deviluke girl quite content to live her life in the palace, under the adoration of her Father and King. It was the best life she could ever have after all that her mother had sacrificed for her.


	7. Run, Kyouko, Run!

_Disclaimer: Disclaimed, I do not own To Love-Ru_

Rito looked into the mirror with determination, as he finishes getting ready for school. After last nights confrontation with Nana and Mea, it became clear that he had to get a list of women he had to confess to, and then reject. So far the list wasn't long, but there was no doubt he needed to get input to make sure he wasn't missing any names. The went as follows: Momo, Haruna, Run, Yui, Yami, Nana, Mea, Nemesis, and oddly enough, Mikan. He figured the way Momo thought, somehow Mikan was probably considered one of his love interests by Gid. The man was definitely like his daughter in that respect, even though there was nothing to it.

Walking from his house to the school, his thoughts were ruminating about who he should approach. Lala wasn't on the list because she was the one he was doing this for, but he knew he still needed to talk to her before anything happened. He knew Run would be hard to get too, since her schedule as an idol kept her busy and away from school and himself. He also knew she would latch on to him and not give him any room to talk without forcing her body on him in some way. He really wasn't looking forward to dealing with the adult Memorzian, but she wasn't the worst problem he could face.

There was Yami, who unlike Mea, seemed to have an attraction to him in one way or another. Having to face her Darkness persona, it was obvious her interactions with him had left some imprint towards him, whether it remained love, or if its become just friendship was the question. He would just ask her right out, but he's still afraid of crossing the living weapon. Ever since they had foiled Nemesis' plans to use Yami's Darkness to destroy the earth, Yami had broken out of her emotionless shell, but she still was quite- frigid around Rito. She had declared he was the target of her affection, but he hadn't really had time to process that, before she seemed to rebuff him again like normal. And, ever since Kuro came and Yami showed she had control over her Darkness transformation, things had gone back to a normal routine, or as normal as they were around Sainan High. He would have to tread carefully when dealing with her, less he end up accidentally incur her wrath.

Momo would be awkward and a challenge, since she was so free and open around Rito ever since she arrived. She was the reason he was even having this problem, if he was being honest, ever since she decided to alter and enhance Lala's open attitude towards Haruna and his love for her. If he was being even more honest with himself, it was no doubt Momo's feelings toward him that made Gid have to draw a line in the sand, something he no doubt heard about from his wife when she had visited and observed her actions around him. Ever since then, though, their interactions had become less and less, mainly due to Rito trying his best to make up his mind and heart up, and Momo giving him just a bit more breathing room.

But his heart had become stagnant ever since Haruna's disappearance, and it no doubt reflected in his daily attitude for the past few months. He had gotten better at avoiding making scenes using the training Zastin had provided him, but his perverted accidents still kept cropping up in unusual and stranger ways. A lot of it was unavoidable with Lala, Nana, and Momo living in his house and using their shower and bath, but the occasions around town, they were much harder to explain away. Like the time he had accidentally tried to remove a kitten from a tree, and managed to land himself in Yui's crotch, with his hands on her breasts. Or the time he had slipped on some ice and knocked Yami's taiyaki to the ground, and managed to expose one of her breasts trying to steady himself. He definitely regretted that once he had to walk home freezing cold after being being dumped unceremoniously into a snowbank. He was trying to get better, really, but it was hard when the world just seemed to be against him and took advantage of his kind and generous personality, to ruin it for someone's amusement.

Sighing, he passes his former classroom of last year, he looks in and smiles at the memories he accrued, with his understanding friends and classmates. Then his eyes pass over the long empty desk, and a pang in his heart crosses his mind. Where the sweet, kind, and lovely Haruna Sairenji once sat, the warm memories could do nothing comparing the early morning sunshine on the desk with no warm smile and friendly face to accompany them. The last person on his list, besides Momo, Haruna Sairenji would be the hardest challenge facing Rito. He would have to figure out where she had disappeared to, why she hadn't returned, and understand what their relationship really was. That last one would be especially hard on him considering, last he knew Haruna had been his girlfriend, and he was going on his sixth month of no contact of any kind with her. He had long ago stopped worrying, somehow convinced she had moved on without him and couldn't find a way to tell him. But then again, he was kidding himself, he had missed her everyday but couldn't ever get close to any of her friends or anyone who would know what happened to her, because he believed she would return.

He had deluded himself for long enough, though, as this was a real wake up call for him, regarding the fate of Lala and the Earth. He knew he needed to move on, Mikan had been trying her best to subtlety suggest as much, and he had always known that. He hadn't heard anything about Haruna, though, nothing in the papers showing she had been killed or anything like that, so he had always kept himself from moving forward out of some form of guilt, no doubt. It was probably just his way of coping, suppressing his feelings even more, which caused his outbreak of accidents to increase in intensity as much as they had. This he was sure could be controlled, once he faced his emotions head on and came to the proper conclusion, whether he truly loved Lala or not, how to face his feelings about all these other girls, and make **his** feelings known.

Stopping at his school room, Rito stops himself before he opens the door. What did he really want to do, after getting these girls to understand his situation? Would he just break their hearts and hope for the best, selfishly putting his own needs ahead of theirs, because he was shouldering a duty that was basically forced onto him, out of the feeling he alone could save the earth by his sacrifice. He stops as he thinks on that. When did it become a sacrifice, trying to keep the Earth from being blown up, or worse? Was it just the feeling of the past two years influencing his attitude, or was it resentment towards Momo for forcing him into this? Closing his hand tightly, Rito can see his knuckles turn white.

Does he even love Lala like that? Will he feel that way by the time he breaks his friends hearts? Will he even be able love anymore? He felt like his world was closing in around him, as a ringing in his ears becomes apparent. His breathing gets shallow and he feels his pulse increase as everything that's happened seems to finally be catching up to him. Maybe the tears at the corners of his eyes was just the stress leaving his body, or maybe his emotions were just starting to get the best of him, having to face the plain truth put in front of him. Wiping at his eyes, Rito takes a deep breath and feels his control return to him.

Opening the door, Rito is smiling hollowly, but the sight of his familiar classroom starts to turn his feelings around, as the students file in for the morning classes. Among them is Lala, Yui, and few people he recognizes among the hallways, including Saruyama. That was when the door opened for the last time, and the form of Run Elise Jewelria marches in with a smile on her face. She walks over to Rito, and smiles flirtatiously as she brushes by him, though as she passes by Lala, who sits behind him, her expression turns dark. Rito knew, though, about the girl's bad side, that jealous side she thought she hid so well behind. Rito realized that he would have to do this today, if he wanted to get this over with, and just hope she wouldn't put up a fit and try and challenge Lala. By the time class had passed and Lunchtime began, Rito hadn't realized just how much the day seemed to drag by, until Run approached him and leaned into his face.

 _Meanwhile, Outside_

Blowing an ember of flame out of her mouth, Kyouko sighs in the cold spring air, as she departs the bus. She was going to visit Sainan High again, since today was supposed to be a day off for Run-chan. Her Memorzian friend had been having a tough few weeks in her idol life, so Kyouko thought she'd help her friend relax as much as possible. Though knowing Run, she was trying to jump Rito as their morning classes ended and lunch began. Chuckling the Flamian hybrid walks into the school with little fanfare, unlike last time, though she put just a little bit more effort into her appearance by messing up her hair just a bit, so it looked different than her normal style.

"Rito-kun!" the voice of Run Elsie Jewelria yells out in the schools hallway, "Come back, I haven't even gotten to kiss you y-e-t!" Kyouko realized that her Memorzian friend was currently chasing a familiar face throughout the halls, and she realized it was the same man she knew Run had talked about so much. Rito Yuuki was currently booking it through the halls, aiming to find the stairway to the roof, no doubt. As he weaves and ducks through the crowds of students, he tried to go around Kyouko, but only managed to knock her aside and down the stairs. Realizing this, Kyouko tries to grab on to the nearest handle, only to find Rito's arm reaching for her hand. Grasping tightly, Rito half stumbles down the steps as he stops her from falling, having run into the stairs himself as he knocked the actress down. Kyouko feels a shock go through her hand as she notices the alarmed look on Rito's face as he pulls her up, seemingly happy he was able to get a hold of himself before anything went wrong.

"Kyouko?" he states, as he recognizes the Flamian hybrid from the year prior, and her occasional visits to Run-chan and the school since, "Sorry about that, Run is.." Kyouko nods and laughs, knowing Run was on the warpath for Rito's heart. Grabbing on his hand tighter, she decides to pull him up the stairs as Run careens down the hallway. Eventually Rito takes charge, and pulls Kyouko along towards the roof, and out into the open air, where they both stop and catch their breath. "Thank you, K-kyouko-san," Rito states, "I wanted to talk with R-run, but she- didn't give me a chance to e-explain what I wanted to talk to her about." Kneeling onto his knees, Kyouko nods and laughs, knowing Run was definitely unable to hear anything when she was caught up in what she wanted. Perhaps it was the fact she was royalty and thought she was entitled to be the center of attention, that clearly shone in her idol life, but that girl really needed to know her limits.

"Rito!" Run says, as she slams the door to the roof open, "Kyouko-chan?" The Memorzian looks puzzled as she sees Rito and her friend both on the roof. "I didn't even know you were here, Kyouko-chan, what are you doing with Rito?" she asks, "Are you trying to get in my way with Rito?" The Memorzian turns inquisitive, and her smile turns into a frown.

"Run-chan, I want you to do something for me," Kyouko says as she puts out her hand to her friend, "Rito-san says he wanted to tell you something, but you wouldn't give him the time of day to get a word in; I want you to listen and focus because it might be important!" Run nods, as Kyouko looks to Rito and smiles. "Go ahead Rito," she states, "Tell her what you wanted to ask her..." Rito gulps and nods, before taking a deep breath.

"Thank you Kyouko-san, I believe this is important for you to hear, as well as Run, due to circumstances," he says, clearly looking compassionately at both Run and Kyouko, "I am currently the fiance of the Eldest Princess of Deviluke, Lala Satalin Deviluke, the heiress to the Deviluke Empire, and request you both listen to my plea." He gauges their reactions, before opting to continue at their befuddled expressions. "Due to unique circumstances, I ask that you Run Elise Jewelria, and you as well Kyouko Kirisaki, as potential love interests, to understand that I am asking you to break off any romantic interests or pursuits regarding myself," Rito says boldly, "As I am pursuing marriage to Lala-hime, I ask you, please, to provide testimony refuting any love for me at the behest of King Gid of Deviluke when he arrives, or there will be consequences." Rito pauses, his mouth going dry as he speaks, as he sees Kyouko shocked, and Run with a look he can't even read. "Due to the nature of Deviluke politics, you can refute my rejection and become a contender against Lala for my affections and her status, or as I beg of you to do, accept the truth of the matter and my rejection," Rito says, "To lose as a contender could mean losing your life, or becoming an exile of the Milky Way Galaxy and all of Deviluke territory; so I ask you please to accept my rejection of your feelings, and provide testimony to King Gid."

Kyouko doesn't know what to say, being asked this so suddenly, but she finds her voice. "I-I mean we've only met in passing once, or twice, but I know I do not have any feelings for you Rito-san," she says with a bit of an embarrassed smile, "I appreciate your concern, though, since I don't want to get mixed up in your affairs; I know it must be difficult having to ask this of us, but thank you for your honesty Rito-san." She looks towards Run with Rito, and she notices something is not right.

Tears are streaming down her cheeks, running the mascara and makeup on the girls face as she cries. Looking up with enough sadness to pierce Kyouko's heart, she can only guess that her crush on Rito ran deeper than either of them thought. Rito too can't help but feel the weight of guilt on his heart, seeing Run, a strong girl like her, cry and reduced to tears for being rejected. "W-why are you saying these t-things R-Rito?" she ask sobbing, "Are- are you being coerced, are you just s-saying this b-because La-Lala is forcing you to?" The Memorzian girl rubs at her eyes to stop the tears. "Why are you lying about your feelings?" she asks, and Rito feels a pang of hurt, "W-why are you giving into her, when you k-know how much better I am!" Suddenly her mood shifts to anger, as she balls her fists and stares down Kyouko and Rito. A strike of thunder lights off in the distance, as the cloudy day begins to pour from sudden storm, further ruinging Run's appearance, and getting the others wet.

"You! Did you put him up to this?" she shouts at her best friend, "Are you trying to steal him away too, like Lala?" She points at Kyouko in anger, before storming up to her and getting in her face. "Do you know who I am?" she says, "I could- I could-" She stops and realizes what she is saying, before breaking down into a mess, and hugging Kyouko, to her surprise. Run then pulls away and stops, just going silent. "I'm sorry, I don't mean it Kyouko, I know you wouldn't act like that... you aren't the one I should be blaming," she says, as she turns to Rito, "What is she threatening you with, you haven't shown her any interest in two years, and yet you suddenly decide to break off any other girls romantic feelings for you?" She looks at him scornfully, as if sizing him up for a coffin. "Are you going to have to get testimony from your own mother, for breaking her heart after telling her you can't love her anymore?" she taunts wildly, surprising both Rito and Kyouko by her callousness, "You know I'm a princess too, and I could have the Memorze Fleet to back you up, even if its against the Deviluke Empire; all you have to do is tell me who to shoot..."

Rito grips his hands tightly and does something that surprises both Kyouko and Run. "Shut up you spoiled b- just shut up!" he says anger flush in his face, "You used to be her friend, and you treat her like garbage- at least Ren for all his faults, was understanding when Lala rejected him- you are just a vengeful little harpy whose petty jealousy is clouding her heart!" He walks up to Run and levels a finger to her face. "You think I want to do this, then think again, because I sure as hell am the one whose going to be hurt the most by the time I'm done," he shouts, "I don't even know my own feelings toward my missing somewhat-girlfriend, my current fiancee, and an envious, manipulative bitch who wants me to just give up on any singular happiness for the nebulous happiness of others she says 'depends' on me for it." He throws his bag across the roof as he explodes on the two alien girls, his stuff going everywhere on the roof.

"I thought I could handle the feelings of loneliness, the worry, and the anger, but I can't do it anymore," Rito yells, tears mixed with rain, "I thought it was bad the first time, when I thought I might actually have a chance of loving Lala, but then Momo and Nana came and made it worse- don't think I haven't noticed how much you want me to yourself, well get in line because it seems like everyone thinks I love them, because my stupid, klutzy, and perilous nature, causes me to get into all kinds of tiring and perverted misunderstandings..." He turns around and looks a scared Run in the eyes. "I'm tired of people like you, thinking they can just walk all over my feelings and expect me to just lie down and take it, well here's a newsflash for you," he states, "If I don't marry Lala, or if she doesn't chose someone else, or if someone else decides to challenge her, than Earth,my family, hell myself, will either: A) Die, B)Be enslaved, C) Become Exiles, or D)A Mix of the Above." Kyouko and Run both looked shocked, and Run's face softens as his lashing out becomes understandable. She goes to move towards him, but he steps back, and she stops.

Rito begins to cool down, as the fog of rage that had been building up cleared out, his eyes no longer just seeing red. "I-I'm sorry," he says, as he realizes what he had just done, "I- I-" He stops, defeated, and he starts to pick up his things that are now soaked, and most likely ruined. As he goes to pick up the last of the spilled items, he feels two pairs of arms surround him in a hug.

"It's alright Rito-san," Kyouko states, "We understand a bit now." Run nods, before letting go as Kyouko does.

"I'm sorry Rito, I didn't realize it had gotten that bad for the both of you," Run states, "I- you're right, my feelings for you have been clouded by my feelings towards Lala..." She pauses and wipes the rain from her eyes. "I've always regretted Lala for torturing my brother and I, when we were younger, but she was always just trying to get us to smile, or be friendly in her own quirky way," Run says smiling a bit, "I may never like her like Ren does, but I can start by just being your... friend." She frowns a little bit at that, but chuckles. "Why did I ever love a perverted, clumsy boy like you anyway?" she says, more to herself than Rito, "I guess I'm just jealous Lala has a boy like you willing to go to such lengths, like this, to make her happy just- just don't forget about your own happiness, Rito..." She looks to him and smiles. "Rito, you may not believe me, but the pressure's on Lala, just as much as it is on you," she says chuckling, "Knowing that girl, she probably is planning six different back-up plans to get you out of this, because she truly does love you Rito, she wants you to be happy, not forced into a loveless marriage..."

Rito looks at her, and wipes away the thinning drops of rain from his face. "You th-think s-so?" he asks, "I seem to think otherwise, because she doesn't have to do this to her friends..." Run laughs at that, before walking over to the railing and watching as the dark clouds roll on by, spreading rain elsewhere.

"You'd be surprised, she's probably being pressured by her father to give you up, and to pick one of her numerous other suitors, or worse, she has Momo pressuring her into doing some kind of gratuitous, lewd act to show you how much she loves you," Run states, as she turns her head back to look at Rito, "True she has her Mother,who is no doubt doing her best to change her Father's mind, or at least encourage Lala in her own way, and she has Nana who will do whatever it takes to back her big sister up, even sabotage whatever Momo has planned to do so..." She wipes a wet bang out of her eyes, and keeps on smiling. "No, right now what Lala needs is your support, which you already are showing her by doing this," she states looking down at the bottom of the schoolyard, "You know, Lala no doubt appreciates you sacrificing your time to approach her romantic rivals, and get them to acquiesce of their own volition; tell me who you've approached so far Rito, nice and loudly." Confused that Run suddenly spoke louder, Rito does likewise and moves a bit closer.

"Well, I've been rejected by you and Kyouko, obviously, but then there's also Mea and Nana, who I got rejections from last night," he lists, and then thinks a little bit harder, "I think somehow Nemesis learned what was going on, and said she wouldn't pursue me romantically, but that was before anyone even told me about what happened; I think Saruyama wants to go for Yui, so he's going to help me disassemble the- uh, Harem Plan, that Momo cooked up last year..." He nervously coughs that last part up, but his blush fades as Run turns around smiling.

"I'm sure Lala will be happy for you doing this; and I think I can help you with your biggest obstacle, Rito-kun," Run states, scratching her chin thoughtfully, "I'm sure you've been curious about Saireji-chan, why she disappeared before school started, and why she hasn't been back to school..." Rito perks up at this information, before he starts to wonder why Run has become so helpful. "Sairenji-chan had a run in with my brother over the summer, which resulted in them becoming friendly," she states, fully turning her body towards Rito and Kyouko, "I don't know much, so you'd have to ask Ren, but it has to do with a mix of her older sister having to move home, coupled with an accident at the beach Haruna was visiting over the summer, that caused her parents to get her to move back with them..." Rito swallows, taking this in, realizing that there was a reason Haruna hadn't come back after all.

"So, she had to move in with her parents, that explains a lot, I guess," he states feeling a bit hollow, "I guess she must have had to leave in a hurry, and not let anyone know what happened... I guess she really didn't-" He stops and sighs, before putting on a thankful smile. "Thank you Run, for telling me this," Rito says, glad that he was finally being told this by someone, "I- we better go see the Mikado-senpai and see if we can get our clothes dry before we get sick.." Nodding, the three turn and head inside from the roof, having long forgotten their classes.

Down below, looking up at the roof, where a smiling Run had spotted her, Haruna Sairenji stood in shock. She had heard enough, and was confused as to what was going on. Hadn't her message to Rito been passed on by the Deviluke princess? Confused and dismayed, Haruna turns away with a broken heart, not realizing how much her disappearance had hurt Rito. The fact he was going after 'romantic rivals' for Lala, obviously showed where his love lay now. She was his ex-girlfriend now, it appeared, even if he hadn't told her directly. It was obvious after all Run had said and she had heard, wasn't it?


	8. For the love of all things Cat-related!

_Disclaimer: No Own I_

It's been two days since he talked with Run and Kyouko, and in that time he's had plenty of time to plan and think some more. He wants to make everyone happy, really he does, and he knows Lala believes that, if he were to have a polygamous marriage, he could make everyone happy. Nemesis basically gave him a taste of his own medicine with role reversal, but proceeded to do a heel-face turn when Rito himself had decided he had enough. Now Nana tells him Lala is being forced to be in a stable relationship, aka marriage, by the beginning of summer, or Rito and the Earth are doomed. And yet, for some reason before this even happened, Rito was already being told by Saruyama, his idiot, perverted friend, that maybe the Harem Plan just wasn't going to work out because of Rito's morals.

He loved Haruna Sairenji, and it cut him deep when Run revealed that she had left him behind by her own accord. It sounded like there was more to it then what Run had stated, a little too eagerly he might add, that made Rito doubt Haruna had just given up on him. He really needed to settle things with her personally, he couldn't just accept word of mouth six months after the fact. But he would save that for last, when his heart could make its decision without the pressure he was feeling. Now, now he had to focus on the one thing he promised he could do. That was why Yui Kotegawa, Sainan High's resident Moral Committee Chairman, was dressed in a nice sweater and skirt, with a light scarf and jacket to chase away the chill. It was also why Rito was dressed up somewhat decently, thanks to Mikan's advice and Peke's craft, and sitting at a Cafe with a steaming cup of tea in his hands, and an empty seat between them.

"So, Yuuki Rito, who did you say would be joining us?" She asks, as Rito nervously slurps his beverage and sputters. Cough and pounding his chest to clear his throat, he looks at her incredulously.

"You mean, you don't know?" He asks in response, "I thought you were invited by him?" She looks at him quizzically, before sipping calmly at her black tea. He merely palms his face as he waits for the inevitable reveal. He really hopes she would listen to him too, even after Saruyama pulled this stunt.

"Oh, hey guys!" said idiot monkey states, appearing in a light jacket, with some tickets in his hand, "Sorry, I hope you didn't have to wait long, I had to buy tickets for a latter showing since the earliest were all sold out." Yui turns to Saruyama, vein bulging in annoyance at being near the perverted schoolmate of hers. "Yui, glad to see you could make it, Yuu didn't know if you were going to be able to join us," he says happily, "I guess you must have changed your mind, once you knew Rito was tagging along." The words were harmless at first glance, but Rito could feel the daggers already being lined up. He hadn't really expected Saruyama to get tickets to a movie when he said he wanted to get him away from the others for some mysterious reason, but know he saw he was being played as the intermediary.

"Actually, Saruyama, I was interested in the movie I was told you were going to be seeing," Yui rebuffs, "Gothic Neko-Girl(S) sounds like a silly mangaka's fever dream, but I read the light novels and thought that if the movies adaptation is even sub par, it will still have a rich and complex plot to draw from, and even rock!" Yui realizes she had begun to ramble, and looks embarrassingly at Rito and a gaping Saruyama.

"You read the light novels, all six?" Saruyama states, "What about the omake featuring the one off character Fleur-de-Neko?" Yui looks straight at him, her face unreadable.

"I think- honestly Fleur seemed to dainty and more like a princess, than a Gothic Neko Girl," she states, "Maybe if they ever did a spin-off series, she could be the hero of a whole new setting, but as is she just seems so forced and out of character for a gothic-hero setting." Saruyama nods sagely, as Rito sips the last of his tea and checks his watch for the time.

"Well, look at that, it's almost time for the movie to start," he states, "Why not just continue this discussion afterwards?"

 _Later, after the Movie_

"Fleur-de-Neko, revealed to be the amnesiac Princess Amaretti de Fleur, true weirder of the Neko-Magi?" Saruyama states, "Isn't that just a little cliche?" Rito nods, just happy to get out of that cramped theater. It would have been fine, if Saruyama hadn't insisted he sit on the inside of the isle, so that Yui could be between the two of them. Of course the seats were cramped almost resulting in elbow in each other's guts, but somehow they made it work, Rito just crossing his arms and leaning into the wall. It was starting to pay off though, as Rito had noticed at some point Saruyama had absentmindedly put his arm around Yui as he stretched, and Yui in turn snuggled into his embrace without second thought. He was surprised that she would do that, but their interest in the movie seemed to have been enough to cause a cease fire between the two who always seemed to be at odds, at least when Rito himself wasn't in Yui's sights.

"Please, not as cliche as Tuxedo Tortoiseshell, who was really her best male friend?" Yui responds, laughing, "Isn't that just so cliche, it's an overplayed trope magical girl anime and manga have been using for decades; there just isn't any realism in it." She turns back to Saruyama and Rito, as they walk out of the theater. "How do you not know your best friend is also the vigilante whose openly in love with your civilian self?" She states, "If they had cut him out, it would have cut out a lot of needless exposition and the sub plot regarding Fleur's romantic rivalry with Rosary Neko!" Saruyama stops and looks offended.

"But Kokegawa, if there wasn't that sub plot, Rosary wouldn't have really gotten over Tortoiseshell's civilian and superhero identities, and gotten together with Alley Cat," Saruyama states, passionately, "He was originally just a secondary character, but he really shined through in the movie!" Yui scoffs as she faces Saruyama.

"Please Saruyama, Alley Cat was just an extra in the first two light novels it wasn't until the fourth book that people actually liked him, when he was revealed to be the American transfer student who was Tuxedo's childhood best friend," Yui states, putting her arms to her side and staring the spikes haired pervert down, "If Alley Cat and Tortoiseshell up and disappeared, they could fit in more plot then just retrieving the Macguffin, and saving Neko World!" Saruyama puts his hand to his forehead with a smirk on his face.

"True, but then when Tortoiseshell sacrificed himself to keep Dogma from discovering and destroying the crystal heart to the Mirror of Reality," Saruyama replies, "He showed he had true heart, and it opened Fleur's eyes to the fact he really did love both sides of her." Yui looks at him oddly and sighs.

"Sure, and Dogma was the most transparent villain with the least relateable back story ever," Yui replies, "Come on Rito, I want to go to the park, without Saruyama." Yui grabs Rito, who was staying silent as his friends argued, and begins dragging him by the arm. "I'm sure you can appreciate how ridiculous this argument is," she states, "And how my viewpoint is obviously better than Saruyama's!" Rito stops for a moment, to look back at his other friend, who looks obviously hurt at Yui's insults. Rito tries to say something, but the distance between them had only grown, and Saruyama turns away hurt. He looks back at Yui, sees how frustrated she looks, and wisely chooses to stay silent and wait for the opportunity to help her calm down.

Finally they reach a fountain in the nearby park, and Yui stops angrily pulling Rito's arm out of its socket. Rubbing his shoulder gingerly, Rito huffs out of breath after walking into the long park. Taking the brief reprieve, he sits at the nearest bench, as he lets Yui fume away at Saruyama, happy for once she wasn't angry at him. Yui seems to be muttering to herself, as she walks in circles in front of the fountain, much to Rito's amusement at seeing her so concerned. "Are you okay, Yui?" He asks, "I've never heard you talk so passionately about a show like this before..." She whirls on him and she looks both embarrassed and angry at him at the same time.

"S-shut up Yuuki," she says stuttering, "Y-you just don't know my t-taste, is all... neither does Saruyama." She huffs and crosses her arms, her confidence obviously returning to her as she faces Rito. "Saruyama should be grateful I joined you both," she says while blushing just a bit, "That i-idiot had the gall to put his arm around me during the movie too!" She looks away from Rito and huffs.

"Yui... I have to- you know what, why don't I go get us some food," Rito says upon hearing Yui's stomach, and his own rumble, "I think there's a stand in front of the park, I'll go grab something and see what Saruyama's doing..." Making no response to his offer, Rito sighs as he leaves his friend standing against a tree, lost in thought. He wasn't going to be gone long, anyways, and he knew where she was, so she was safe as long as she stayed on this side of the row of trees and bushes that split the center of the park. The massive tree at the center of the park was a landmark he could remember, after all.

Saruyama, on the other hand, was leaving the food stand with the takoyaki he had just purchased from it. The steaming, hot octopus balls were appetizing to the hungry idiot, whose mouth was drooling at the prospect of eating the yummy treat. Theater snack foods were both entirely too expensive, and not filling enough ti enjoy after leaving the bustling movie theater. He could also forget about Yui's remarks regarding the two male protagonists of the movie, and enjoy the food with little worry. Walking down the opposite path to the one Rito was walking up, divided by a thin layer of trees and bushes, he walked until he was about the middle of the park, and under a fairly shaded, large tree that stood in the center of the park.

Suddenly, Saruyama heard mewling, a pitiful sound that was almost to soft too hear. Looking up from his food, his empty stomachs betrayed by his ears, he hears the sound again. Looking around the area for any sound of the source, he finds his attention drawn to the tree at the center of the hedges. Looking up, he sees a brown and white cat, seemingly stuck up on the tree branch. It appeared to be still fairly young, and Saruyama thought it looked hungry. The smell of his food was probably what caused the cat to start crying out.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the tree, Yui had heard the cat's wailing as well. Softening her heart at the pitiful wailing she heard coming from the cat, she immediately started to look for it. It wasn't until it wailed that second time that she realized it was coming from the fairly good sized tree at the center of the park. Unable to see the cat from her vantage point, she decided to go through the fairly thick hedges that divided the center of the park.

Saruyama, on the other hand, was finding a spot to set his food down to be able to pick it up later, and takes of his jacket to get some mobility. Getting his sleeves rolled up, and his body ready, he finds a knot in the wood he can use to push himself up into the trees. Finding a split branch close to the trunk, he quickly hauls himself into the branches, and finds a comfortable position he can stay in to entice the cat out of the tree. Thinking back to his own experience of dealing with the alien/cat assassin, he tried to look as appetizing as a piece of fish to get the cat down. As he was doing this,Yui manages to break through the hedge just in time, as Saruyama finds a stable foothold to move further up into the tree.

"Here kitty, kitty," Saruyama states, much to the surprise of Yui, who recognizes his voice, "Come here, and I'll get you some nice fish to eat... maybe a bite of my octopus if you're really hungry." Smiling a bit, she softly chuckles into her hand, as she sees Saruyama gently reach out to try and get the cat into his reach. The cat, more than likely still a kitten or a year old at most from what Yui sees, hisses and swipes at Saruyama. Saruyama, undeterred tries to go forward just a bit more to reach the frightened animal. The cat seems to recognize Saruyama's intentions, and doesn't swipe at him again, but he rumbles an annoyed meow. Reaching out just a little bit further, he watches as the cat turns to a sound and looks down, before turning back to Saruyama and pouncing. The cat jumps straight on to Saruyama's face, to his pained surprise, only to use it as a step and slowly crawl down his legs to the point where Saruyama pulled himself into the tree.

Unfortunately the cat had raked its claws down Saruyama's back as he went, causing him to hiss out in pain and fall out of the tree in the process. Thankfully the ground is soft enough that Saruyama isn't hurt, but when he opens his eyes, he sees three people and three cats staring back down at him. Shaking his head clear, Saruyama finds the ringing in his ears has stopped, and the chiming laugh of Yui Kotegawa instead, as she holds the cat in her arms. The beast seemed to love her, purring in her arms as Saruyama reoriented himself on the hard ground.

"What are you laughing at Kotegawa?" Saruyama replies, "I just got scratched by a cat I was trying to save, and he likes you more than me!" Yui takes this in, and knowing she is going to regret it later, decides to check their severity. Yui then notices his shirt was not only cut, but slightly bleeding as well, causing her to help Saruyama up turn him around. Inspecting the damage she sighs, before going over to where Saruyama had discarded his shirt and jacket.

"You'll want to put this on," she says tossing his jacket to him, "You don't want to bleed out while we're going to my house." Saruyama does a double take as he realizes she's serious about this. Following her as she starts walking, he watches as she absent mindedly strokes the cat.

"Are you sure you want me knowing where you live? I'm like a stray, once you patch me up I might come back again!" he jokes casually, "Except I'll take pleasure in kisses and belly rubs if you offer them to me; unlike that cat." The cat turns his head towards Saruyama and hisses, before Yui scratches his head again, and the purring begins anew.

"You just fell out of a tree after getting scratched by a cat you were trying to rescue, so I'll let that slide," she states calmly, "Besides, you'll behave if you want your wounds cleaned; we wouldn't want our brave hero to get cat scratch fever, now would we?" Meowing in agreement, the young cat snuggles deeper into Yui's arms. Saruyama just can't believe the girl who would blow up on a any boy in school, could keep her cool like that. Maybe he could downplay his over the top humor- just a little bit.

Back at the park, as the two leave for Yui's house, Rito arrives back at the spot he left her. "Yui, I couldn't find Saruyama-" he states, looking down at the tray of food he is trying to balance in his hands, "I didn't know what you might like, so I got a platter- Yui?" He knew he had left her here, now where did she go?

 _Yui's House_

Saruyama had stripped his shirt from his waist at Yui's request, as she put the cat into a kennel, where it was now sleeping soundly. Dragging him to the bathroom, before disappearing, Saruyama took a good look at himself in the mirror. The scratches weren't deep, sure, but they weren't pretty. Just being exposed to the air, they stung and looked crusty with dried blood. His face didn't look too much better under his left eye, where one of it's back paws dug in, nor on his forehead where it had first landed and continued to spring off of him like a diving board, as he went for Yui. It had to be a male cat, because Saruyama could just sense that air of superiority being focused towards him by the smug cat, as it lay snuggled in between her bouncy breasts. Shaking his head a little bit, his face red, Saruyama sees Yui walk back into the bathroom with a clean shirt.

'I grabbed one of my Brother's spare shirts he keeps around the house for the days he sleeps here," Yui states, setting it aside and grabbing a first aid kit from beneath the sink, "He occasionally spends the nights he isn't in college here, and splits his time between Sainana and Shukufuku, where his girlfriend currently is living..." Yui grabs some gauze and rubbing alcohol and motions for Saruyama to sit, where she could see all the scratches. "Don't worry, he won't miss one shirt either," she states, "Ever since his girlfriend came back from her trip overseas with a broken leg, he's been spending more and more time with her, since her parents can't be there all that much with work."

"He's a bit love sick?" Saruyama guesses from her tone, "He must love that girl, if he travels three hours to and from Sainana to Shukufuku; it isn't the closest city by far." He flinches as she begins to dab at one of the deeper cuts, the stinging pain letting him know that it was working.

"True, I wouldn't be surprised if the sap proposes to her once she's all healed, and he musters up the courage," she says, between dabbing at the cat scratches, "They already treat him as part of the family, it seems like, from what he tells me when he's here for college classes or tests; he's always been a bit of a romantic, and he wants to do it right." Saruyma laughs over the pain, hissing with a sharp intake of breath, between her swabbing. "I'll tell you what, over a year ago I thought that girl had just been leading him by a string for months, she always put him off," she says, as she finishes off dabbing at the last scratch, "He didn't mind, at first, but after she went off and came back hurt, he actually got around to her, it seems; she really is in love with him now, I can see it in the pictures he shows me of the things they've been doing together." He nods, as she finishes up, now grabbing some bandages to cover them up and keep them sterile.

"Sounds like he's a nice guy, I hope your big bro gets the girl of his dreams," Saruyama states with a smile, as Yui wraps the bandage around him, "Wish I could be that lucky to get to know the girls of my dreams." Yui grabs the gauze and alcohol again, this time dealing with the scratches on his face.

"You have hope yet, Saruyama, if you clean up your act," she states,smiling slightly as she takes pleasure in seeing him squirm, "You might be a pervert, but your one of the nicest boys behind Rito; you'd probably be able to snag any girl you wanted if you stopped acting so haughty and running your mouth." Saruyama's mouth dries as she gets the cut under his eye, his heart thumping just a bit faster than he was comfortable with. Yui notices he has gone silent, as she finishes up the last scrape.

"Cat got your tongue, monkey boy?" she asks, half joking, "I've never seen you miss an opportunity to flirt with a girl right in front of your face..." Biting her tongue as she realizes what she just said, she blushes heavily and pulls back from his face, rummaging through the bandages as a distraction. Saruyama is just as red, as she pulls out a flexible bandage that she puts under his eye. He swallows, knowing he might possibly regret this next bit of playful banter, knowing know how much she loved cats.

"Oh- no, I was just wondering how cute you might look in cat ears," he says slyly as he can putting his hands to her hair and pulling them up in mock cat ears, "You'd look pretty- well, pretty, Yui-Neko..." Yui's expression is unreadable, but her face is flush red, and Saruyama realizes he might have just taken it a step to far in his joke. He didn't even feel the sting of the slap to his face, as it was light compared to the sting of the cat scratches.

"Get out," she says coldly, pulling away and going for the clean T-shirt she had set aside, and shoving it in his hands, roughly, "Just get dressed and get out; I'll lock the doors behind you once you leave." Saruyama nods, realizing she had a right to be pissed off at him, as he looks away ashamed. He doesn't even see her leave and go to her room, but he hears the door slam. Saruyama decided to quickly leave the house, but not before he stopped in front of the closed door that was Yui's.

"Sorry Kotegawa, I didn't mean to upset you," he states, "I'll find a way to make it up to you though, for your kindness in patching me up; I promise." Leaving the empty apartment behind him, to the pitiful mewls of the damned cat that had led him there, Saruyama cursed his luck that Yui Kotegawa's heart was still taken. He still had daylight, though, and he knew just the apology gift to get her.

 _The Next Day_

While school morning slipped quickly and quietly by, surprisingly there was no incidents regarding Rito's perversions or any shameless activity to report. Then again, no one had actually seen Yui Kotegawa either, so it was a strange day for Sainan High. When lunch came, and Saruyama parted ways with Rito from his locker, he found his hands absently reaching for the small gift tucked within his bag. He would find Yui Kotegawa if it killed him, and it seemed the world was on his side, as he rounded the corner to find her at her locker. "Kotegawa!" he states, to her ignorance, "Yui!" Turning, the schools head moral officer looks towards the delinquent with little interest.

"What do you want, Saruyama?" she asks, her tone suggesting indifference, "I don't have much time, and I need to retrieve my lunch..." Bowing, Saruyama tries his best to speak to the ice cold morals officer.

"I promised you a gift," he says offering the box from his bag, wrapped in paw-print wrapping paper, "And I intend to deliver to my savior." Hesitantly, Yu eyes the strange purple and black wrapping paper, before taking it from his hands. "I hope you like," he says, standing up properly, "I saw you looking at them when we passed a store and..." She opens the box as he trails off, and sitting within a nest of wrapping paper, lay a headband she had eyed when they passed a manga shop display.

"Shameless," she says, grabbing the simple, black head band and looking at its unique additions, "Absolutely shameless, for you to bring such an inappropriate item to school with you, intentions or not." A she says this, Saruyama's head begins to droop a bit. "But, I happen to like the design," she continues, "Thanks for thinking of me Kenichi." She leans over and pecks Saruyama lightly on the cheek. All Saruyama hears is the 'Thank You' and the fireworks going off in his head. He didn't even see Yui pull away from him in his dazed condition, after placing the headband back into its box and into her bag. He really thought she would like it, because there was one thing he thinks he could agree with her about them.

She would look really great in those cat ears he bought.

 _Later_

"Were you okay going home yesterday, Kotegawa?" Rito asks as he escorts the morals officer home, "I know you were mad at Saruyama yesterday, but I didn't think you'd off and disappear like that on me." Yui nods as she absently strikes her hand against the present in her bag.

"Sorry for worrying you Rito," Yui responds, "But, actually, Kenichi and I came to an understanding yesterday; even if neither of us recognized it at the time..." She smiles as she looks to Rito. "I think it'll be okay though, we both need to take it slow this time," she states, "Now, what did you want to talk to me about?" Rito looks alarmed for a moment, before stopping and making sure they were alone.

"O-okay, so don't laugh, and hear me out before you go spouting off at me.." Rito states to the Kotegagwa girl, "Due to my unique situation regarding Lala, as her potential marriage candidate, and Fiance, I Rito Yuuki, must inform you, Yui Kotegawa, as a potential romantic interest that I share no romantic feelings in you beyond mere friendship." Yui merely widens her eyes, but says nothing as Rito continues. "As Lala Satalin Deviluke is heiress to an Empire, I must confront all of my potential love interests, and ask that you reject any feelings toward me romantically, or prepare to become a contender in a battle against Lala, resulting in banishment or death," Rito states seriously, which Yui realizes, "I beg of you to reject any undo feelings towards me, and provide testimony towards this at the behest of King Gid; will you do so, Yui Kotegawa?" Yui doesn't know what to say, to stunned to speak at first, before her hands brush the bag at her side. Suddenly her eyes go wide as she feels _something_ , at the touch of the box.

"Thank you, for telling me all of this," she says with a calm smile, "I do, truly reject any feelings towards you, and will provide testimony if so asked." Rito looks gob smacked at this,thinking even insinuating anything would have caused her to blow a fuse. She smiles and hugs Rito. "Thank you, Yuuki Rito, for the wonderful memories of a first love," she states sincerely, "But I think I've learned a valuable lesson today; not all boys fit to my standards, but they can show amazing acts of kindness, beyond my beliefs." Turning away from Rito, wiping a small tear from her eye and thinking about her future, Yui Kotegawa continues on her way home, alone. The thoughts of a perverted monkey-boy on the other hand, warm her heart as she goes.


	9. Interlude Pt1: A Brief History of Lala

_Disclaimer: Own not I, To Love-Ru, saith the scribe of fans._

"You've come to speak with me again," the living weapon known as Yami, or Eve to her progenitor and Mother, says looking her visitor in the eye, "There's been sightings of you all over Earth, Kuro, and I thought I would check up on why you're here, yet it seems you came to me." The black haired man merely smiles his cryptic smile, before walking out from the shadows.

"You're right Yami, it is time we talked," he states, "It's about Yuuki Rito, and the bounty on his associates head..." The former assassin Golden Darkness, and the former hit man known to most as 'Black', stare each other down. He activates a holographic device, showing a familiar face that surprises Yami. The brown haired, brown eyed visage of Rin Kujou is reflected in the alien wanted poster.

 _The Next Day_

Rin Kujou was currently walking down the street with Rito Yuuki, and Momo Belia Deviluke. The pink haired princess was currently grasping Rito by the arm, pressing her breasts uncomfortably close into his side, as they walked around Sainan Town. Originally he had been sent out to grab some more ingredients for dinner, since it seemed they were to have an unexpected guest come join them. Momo, of course eager to spend time around her darling Rito, decided to tag along for the ride and help him out and potentially get some alone time, where she could jump him and do perverted things to him. What happened instead was an embarrassment, as they bumped into a frazzled and overworked Rin, who seemed like she needed a better day than she had had. Rito, being the overly gentlemanly type, decided to offer his services in the form of his arms, stating he could help carry anything she needed help with.

Two hours later, and Rito was currently carrying: Three pairs of shoes, six dresses of various styles and colors, three jackets that were able to be reversed and exchanged as complimentary colors for the dresses, and then there was the kicker, in the form of a bamboo sword. It became apparent that Rin Kujou was shopping for her employer, Saki Tenjouin, as they were obviously not her style or size, though the sword seemed to be Rin's. "Saki-sama has me running around on various errands," Rin answered when questioned about the various items, "Apparently there is going to be some auction hosted by Saki-sama's father, featuring some unique items he's come into possession of over the years." When they finally reached the Tenjouin estate, it was there that Rin looked truly grateful to both Momo and Rito for their help.

"If there is anything I could do, I'll ask Saki-sama for compensation for your work," Rin states, as she leads them inside the mansion and to a side room, where she directs them to deposit the items, "She's been so busy training to take over her Father's company lately, that I've had to do all her shopping and parcel retrieval, since Aya has been standing with her as her assistant and planner!" Rito nods and scratches the back of his head, just happy to have helped a friend, even if they were a year apart in school.

"No need," Rito states, as he sets down the last of his items, before grabbing the sword from the top and handing it to Rin, "I was glad we could help, its been forever since we've seen you guys around town, its just nice to know you all are still around!" Rin nods, as Saki Tenjouin walks into the room from another door.

"Rin, please tell me you got the blue dress, I'll need it for my appointment with the Mayor, and tell me you got the burgundy for the party tonight!" Saki states, as she rushes up to Rin and grabs the sides of her shoulders, "The auction is going to be the first the Tenjouin has hosted, that will feature an offworld seller choosing to anonymously sell his merchandise on Earth!" Momo's ears perk up at this, hearing that the Tenjouin group would be hosting an intergalactic piece in their auction. Saki then turns to Rito and Momo, before looking them over and smiling. "Rito, darling, it's been forever!" she says brightly, looking happy at seeing the red headed boy, before she turns to Momo, "Lala, I know it's only been half a year, but you seemed to have... uhm, gotten smaller?" A vein in Momo's forehead seems to bulge at the mistake, obviously imaging just what she was insinuating.

"I will let you know, I am not Lala, I am her younger sister Momo Belia Deviluke, the third heir to the throne of Deviluke, which rules the combined milky way galaxy," she states haughtily in return at Saki's slip of the tongue, "I know the Tenjouin family has started dealing with intergalactic markets, including the Deviluke economy, but I was unaware you would be hosting an auction with an anonymous item up for sale." Momo crosses her arms and looks at Saki straight. "Tell me the Tenjouin group managed to vet this event with Galactic Police, otherwise your event might have been mistaken for some black market cover," she states, with venom dripping form her words, "If they find anything illegal within your auction, the Galactic Police could shut down any and all operations the Tenjouin family could be running, both on and off Earth!" Saki nods, before sighing and putting a hand to her cheek like she was bored.

"No need to be so cross, my mistake Momo-hime," Saki states casually, waving the matter off, "The G.P.D. cleared the auction, and made sure most of the artifacts were just cultural doodads and legally obtained pieces of cultural interest surrounding Earth, items to attract people to our wider market and relaxing amenities you've all claimed we've mastered..." Momo steams a bit, before getting an idea.

"Well, Saki-chan," Momo says sweetly, her demeanor flipping in an instant to manipulate things her way, "Since Rito was so~o nice, and offered to help Rin-chan with her work, why don't we both get an invite to the auction!~" At that Saki blanches, before composing her self and smiling towards Momo.

"O-of course the Third Princess of Deviluke is welcome to attend, bring Lala as well, in fact your whole house is invited Rito-kun," she states, slightly embarrassed by Momo's ploy, before taking a breath and looking at him genuinely happy, "You've helped me out before, Rito, and if I wasn't so busy setting this up Rin never would have needed the extra set of hands, so please, invite anyone you want and tell them Saki Tenjouin said it was ok!" Rito bows slightly before grabbing Momo, who seemed thoroughly rejected for having her plan of only her and Rito being invited rebuffed with an open invitation.

When they were gone, Rin turned to Saki and bowed. "Thank you, Saki-sama, for allowing them to be invited," she states to her mistress, "It will be nice to know some people at the party, and you won't be so uncomfortable, I'm assured." Saki chortles at this, before looking at Rin with a smile.

"You mean we won't be alone," she states, "You and Aya are invited to attend as my guests as well, I won't have you work so hard for this, and not let you have the night off to enjoy the party!" Rin smiled, as they left the room to continue in their duties.

 _Yuuki Household, Later_

"Huwah, a party?" Lala states, bright eyed and happy, "We've been invited to a formal auction at the Tenjouin estate!" Lala practically jumps for joy, knowing that being invited by one of the most influential groups in Sainan to a party they would host, was a big deal for everyone.

"Yes, Lala, and they have an open invitation for everyone, so Mikan, you, Nana, Momo, Celine, and I were all invited, though I'm sure they would accept you too Yami-chan," Rito says, noticing the living weapon was sitting next to Mikan, "It's tonight, so I was hoping we could find a way to get Mikan and Celine some formal clothes-" At that, Peke chose to speak up.

" _Leave their clothing to me, Rito-san, I can upload some designs onto temporary pins_ ," the robot states, " _If Lala-sama can generate some blank pins, I can get them loaded, even formal wear for you to wear Rito-san!_ " Lala nodded in agreement, before jumping up and racing to their rooftop bedroom. Momo took this time to scoot next to Rito and whisper in his ear.

"You can use this time to forward the Harem Plan, Rito!" she says cheerily, as the others milled about unaware, "Try and get Yami-chan, or Rin by themselves and confess to them, _fufu_!" At that Rito awkwardly smiled at her suggestion, but he took it to heart.

 _'I do need to confess to someone, tonight,'_ he thinks, _'Rin would be the easiest to corner tonight, though I might get a chance to talk with Yami-chan too.'_ Rito sighed, as Momo departed from the room, already going to pick out her own clothes, no doubt. He had to deal with Momo, and soon, before she lead herself down a path she may not make it out of without seriously compromising her feelings. Rito knew he wasn't leading her along on any assumptions, but he had yet to confront the girl for fear he might break her heart. He could never get into the right situation, no matter what he tried to do.

Then again, the princess just loved to put him in awkward situations, such as in the bath or while he was getting ready in the mornings. The Devilukean princess had slowly tried to whittle her way into his heart, after her confession to him months ago. He had just never done anything about it since then, ever since he was heartbroken after Haruna had moved away. Perhaps he would find Haruna first, then go after Momo once everything was made clear for him. He hoped he could find a situation where it would work out.

 _Later..._

Finally the hour arrive, and the six members of the Yuuki household, plus Yami, shuffled into the grand ballroom of the Tenjouin estate. Momo and Nana were wearing variations of their normal royal dress, slightly altered to be longer and more regal looking, without being offensive to Earth styles. Celine was wearing a green dress that was comfortable for the child to walk around in, but still carry an air of cuteness that the adorable child gave off. Yami chose to just lengthen her own dress style, while Mikan had been given a peach colored dress that seemed to compliment her skin tone, with makeup that brought out her mature personality. Rito himself was dressed by Peke in a fancy, three-piece, black pin strip suit and orange tie to accent his eyes. Lala, on the other hand was stunning in Rito's eyes, wearing a slightly altered version of the dress she wore to Tenjouin's Christmas party years ago, which fit her well and accented her Deviluke style.

Splitting up to mingle, before the main event, Rito found himself drawn around the room to see the various items for display. Various originals of Earth artwork and culture seemed to fill the room with auction labels showing what their lot number was, with a brief history surrounding the item. There was an unfinished marble bust that was found and shipped from Greece, next to a painting illustrated by some famous Italian, which had been found hidden away in some attic. There were also mechanical works, devices that were called 'art' made by American inventors, as well as wax sculptures and lost manuscripts penned by ancient writers. The jewel of the collection seemed to be hidden away behind a massive curtain, with only a lot number and a name to identify it, as it sat in the midst of the hustle and bustle around it, just waiting for the main event to reveal itself. The 'Pearl of the Taoist', was donated by some off world backer, supposedly a mysterious artifact recovered from the ruins of a long dead world in some distant galaxy.

Rito felt his eyes drawn to the curtain, a feeling of impending doom seemed to crawl down his back as he stared at the hidden thing behind it. He felt something icy in his heart, react to the feeling of dread he felt, as he stood by the curtain. He reached his hand out, which had begun to throb, feeling the soft silk of the curtain between his fingers, as- He felt Lala grab his hand and spin him around, before she smiled at him and dragged him away from the center of the room. "Come dance with me, Rito," she states, laughing at the boy's obliviousness, "The auction doesn't start for another hour, you can find out what's behind the curtain with everyone else!" Rito felt the warmth in his heart return, as he replaced his thoughts with a happy Lala.

From the corner of the room, Rin Kujou stood with a glass of fruit punch in her hand, sipping at the fluted glass absentmindedly, on guard even when she had the night off. It was her nature, after all, to want to protect Saki-sama and her investments, so it was only natural for her to be scanning the room for hostiles. From her own perch, Yami watched Rin, intent to make sure the girl was in her view at all times during the night, if she could help it.

 _Earlier..._

Yami stared down Kuro, as he showed her the form of Rin Kujou. "It appears the woman known as Rin Kujou was involved with an incident on Earth some year and a few months back, regarding an ancient artifact that had found its way to the Tenjouin groups possession," Black states, "Tomorrow, the Tenjouin group is hosting an Auction surrounding artifacts related to Earth culture, though there will be a unique piece there donated by a mysterious benefactor that wishes to remain anonymous." The hologram changes to show a Galactic Police video, showcasing a warehouse were confiscated weaponry of criminals were kept. "Apparently, the weapon once known as Bladix, the parasitic metallic organism that took over its hosts and used their energy to shed blood for the sword to consume, was stored at a G.P. facility in the outer rim," he states, as the footage shows the place blow up, and a shadowy figure escape form the scene of the crime holding a large box, "Apparently after you shattered the sword, its remains were stored there up until last week, when a as of yet unidentified intruder assaulted the facility and stole the remnants for an unknown purpose."

Yami nods along, understanding that the remains of a parasitic weapon could be dangerous if its materials could be reproduced. "What does this have to do with the Tenjouin group, or why Kujou would have a bounty on her?" she asks, "I understand the shards were stolen, but why would they be heading here?" Black looks at Yami seriously, and sighs.

"The specifications in the contract reveal that, Rin Kujou is to be brought in alive and unharmed to the payee of the contract," he states, "The reason is yet unknown, though it becomes clearer once the Tenjouin groups relationship with the special auction, and former possession of Bladix come into play." He brings up another hologram, this time of a pitch black pearl of the size of a baseball. "This is the 'Pearl of the Taoist', the Tenjouin group doesn't know it, but they have a unique and very dangerous artifact being smuggled into be sold at their auction," he continues, "Legends say that an ancient group from some far off planet in an unnamed galaxy, separated the spiritual energies from their bodies to create items of power that could be likened to wish granting objects, able to do anything from heal the sick, to solve the hardest of problems with a mere thought... even resurrect the dead, on the rare occasion when a pearl was strong enough..."

"And this pearl is one such example?" she asks, "Do you believe whoever has stolen the remains of Bladix, is coming to Earth to steal the pearl and resurrect the Cursed Sword?" Black nods, and closes his hologram projector.

"If my intelligence is correct, Miss Kujou was the last person to be possessed by the sword, correct?" Yami nods as he speaks, "Then it is no stretch that whoever put the hit out on her, means to use her energy to successfully restore the soul of Bladix, by using the Pearl to extract his essence from the depths of her mind." Yami falls silent, as she ponders this as well. "If you can make it so, please find a way to guard Miss Kujou while I pull some strings to get Galactic Police in this neck of the galaxy, and I'll join you later on," he states, "I've been hired on as additional security by the benefactor, but they wish to remain anonymous, as they want the Tenjouin auction to go off without a hitch as well." Yami nods, as Black smiles at her cute face of concentration. He waves her off, and disappears like a cat into the night. Yami ponders just how difficult this task was going to be.

 _The Present_

Yami sighs, stepping back to watch the scene of the night unfold. It was going to be long, if anyone showed up at all to interrupt the auction at all, though Yami was sure Kuro's information was correct. He was honorable, after all, and it wasn't hard to believe he wouldn't vet his sources before approaching her to help out. Something was going to happen tonight, and Yami would be prepared to fight it head on.


	10. Hello Black, My Old Friend

_Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim that I, in fact, do not own To Love Ru, or To Love Ru: Darkness_

Mikan knew something was going to go wrong the moment Rito was invited to dance by either Lala or Momo, but she didn't know her brother could dance as well as he did. It had been years since he had done anything as formal as this, though she couldn't say he wasn't a good dancer. Perhaps it was that fact he had been with Lala, who seemed to glance across the dance floor like it was her battleground, and Rito was her weapon. Then again, Lala's own beauty was enough to kill anyone who looked at her, and be raised back to life as love zombies infatuated with her. She knew that must have happened with Momo at the very least, since she had her 'Venus Momo Fanclub' at her beck and call, even if what she can tell from Momo's complaints, it wasn't exactly mutual, as it was unexpected.

Rito dipped Lala casually in an unexpected waltz, before pulling her back up and into his arms. Momo was biting her thumb in jealousy, seeing her older sister dance with Rito so smoothly. She half expected Rito to fall, or trip, and rip Lala's dress off, exposing her breast to the ballroom, and Lala's embarrassment. Of course both just smiled and seemed to compliment each other in their movements, Rito's stiffness obscured by Lala's unpredictability and swaying hips. It was no wonder that Lala had stolen half the hearts in the school, between Momo and herself, Lala was no doubt one of the lustful beauties in the school. She really hoped that Rito would make a fool of himself, just so she could feel justified for her jealous feelings towards her older sister. 'Not that she had any right t be jealous of Lala,' she reminded herself, 'He is her fiance, he probably managed to get some practice in somehow.'

Rito was just happy that, along with spending part of the summer practicing swordsmen ship, that he was taught the basics of dancing to not only improve his coordination, but keep him from making a fool out of himself on the occasion he was expected to dance with Lala, if the time ever came. Thankfully the time was at hand, and he managed to keep himself from falling onto her after partially slipping while dipping her down, or accidentally releasing his tight grip on her hands. But he managed to survive the experience, and happily took Lala aside to catch their breath before another round of dance, or a drink lest he get asked by some enamored girl to dance with him. As he was grabbing some of the punch, he was thoroughly surprised that he was tapped on the shoulder by Rin, of all people, in a beautiful, china-style dress, carrying a fan with glinting metal edges at her side, which Rito guessed could easily double as a weapon.

"Y-Yuuki Rito, I know you just vacated the dance floor..." she states, slightly blushing, "But I find I would like to express my gratitude for your help with a dance." Rito wants to blush, before he realizes that he could possibly take the time to ask to see Rin alone after the auction.

"Uh, I would be glad to dance with you!" he replies, just a bit to eagerly he realizes, "I- uh, I mean it would be a pleasure, since I have something to ask of you, as well." Rin raises an eyebrow at this, before smirking and grabbing his hand as the music signals the start of another number.

 _Beyond the Kuiper Belt_

A merchants ship was sailing through asteroids towards its current destination. The Blue skinned Captain of the ship was sweating, obviously perturbed by their current course, and the threat of the knife being held to his back was no help at all. The male alien could barely keep his cool as he piloted his ship past sensor buoys put out by Devilukean ships in the area, and transmitted his clearance code for trade in the system. He lined up his ship and set up automatic landing protocols, before turning away from his console with his hands up. "T-there, I d-did what you asked, n-now please let me go!" he states out in fear, "My three wives, and twelve kids, they need me out here, I'm just doing my job to pay for their food; so please, I beg of you, spare-" Blue liquid spattered the deck before the man even hit the deck, falling from his chair.

"Twelve children, please, did you think I am stupid?" the sinister voice of his attacker replies, as they pull out a rag to wipe the newly blue coat off the metal dagger, leaving it a gleaming obsidian once again, "Now, Golden Darkness, I will have my revenge... and with this sword made whole once more, I will have the power to send even you to your knees!" Holding up the broken tip of the once whole sword in her hand, the woman smiles as she sees her golden eyes reflecting in the blackened mirror. Breaking out into a deep, cackling laugh the unknown killer watches the planets streak by, as the merchant ships moves ever closer to its destination.

 _Tenjouin Estate_

As Rito stepped off the dance floor, out of breath by the longer than necessary dance, he takes a seat as Rin does likewise. "So, Yuuki Rito, what was it you wanted to ask of me?" Rin states, "Surely you aren't seeking more favor from me, after I got you invited to this lovely dance, where you could impress your girlfriend?" Rito sputters at that, just wondering who she thought was his girlfriend, considering he had been with Momo at the time.

"N-no, n-nothing like that, and I'm sure Momo appreciated the invite as well as I do," Rito states, trying to calm himself and become serious, "No, this is actually a question I have for you, regarding Lala-" Suddenly the music halts, as the crowd hushes and the lights give way to a spotlight on a stage.

"Meet me in Saki-sama's study," Rin states to Rito in a whisper, "I'm afraid I'll be needed for the auction right now, but I can speak to you there after business is concluded; good night, Yuuki Rito!" Pulling away, Rin disappears into the crowd, walking towards the middle of the room, where Saki Tenjouin stands at the center on a raised platform.

"Welcome everyone, to the Tenjouin Cultural Auction, an event being hosted due to generous contributions from artists and historians around the Earth, in an attempt to broaden the knowledge and diversity of Earth, and bring it to the stars," she says, smiling brightly to the assembled humans, aliens, and assorted guests, "I'm sure you are all just waiting for the star of our auction, a fine piece provided by our anonymous benefactor, who wishes to stay that way; the Pearl of the Taoist, is truly the first of many items we hope to have showcased on Earth in our future business dealings with the greater galactic community." She turns to show the first item being wheeled up on a cart. "But first, before we can spoil the surprise item of our show, we must start the auction with a jade piece from the Zhou period," she states, as a large jade pate with a hole in its center is revealed, "The Bi, as these pieces are called, represent ancient Chinese understanding of the heavens, associated with..."

Rito had zoned off at the technical talk surrounding the art, and other historical artifacts showcased here, as none of them really interested him. It seemed Mikan and Celine were thoroughly enraptured, along with Lala who stood near the back of the crowd, along with Momo who looked more interested in the cup of punch in her hand. Chuckling, Rito could understand her pain, as the items seemed to just go on and on. He know saw why Rin had to leave, though, since it appeared between her and Aya, and one or two other girls, they seemed to be showcasing the items being auctioned, pulling or pushing them on carts and other modes of transport for the larger pieces of cultural significance. He was quite surprised, when one of the massive Easter Island heads were showcased, its surprisingly had a small body exposed to the open air from bellow the main head, which was something new that Rito guess he would learn from the Auction. He almost ignored the sound of Lala's Dedial, before looking over to see her pull away from Momo and the group.

"Hello?" Lala answered quietly, after pulling away from the main group, "Zastin?" She listened as he talked, taking in every word as he spoke to her. "Uh-huh, huh, mmmhmmm, sure..." she replies every so often to his query, and the Devilukean eyes go wide at the final response, "Say that again, Zastin, how much?" Rito had made his way over, just as she ended the call with the Devilukean guard, and he goes to speak with her, but she brushes right past him. He watches as she marches through the crowd, just as the final item before the Pearl is auctioned off to a Gourmand.

Saki smiles as the last item, a chunk of the finest swiss chocolate that is accompanied by a half-ton stored in the back, is carted off. Finally both Aya and Rin come in, Aya pushing the cart, with Rin standing by her side, clearly showing a sharp and bladed sword in her possession, to ward off anyone foolish enough to do something. "Ladies, gentleman, visitors of all kinds, we will now be drawing to a close after auctioning off the final item of the night," Saki says, as she grabs the cloth draped over a cylindrical container containing the Pearl of the Taoist, and gives it a quick tug, freeing the view, "May I present to you, with great pleasure I might add, the Pearl of the Taoist, the last remaining one of its kind in this galaxy, created some two thousand years ago by the estimates of reputable xeno-archeologists," Saki states with glee, "Legends purport that in the right hands, the Taoist energy within can be utilized to do almost anything, from saving the life of a small child, to sharpening the dullest blade to the thinnest degree, to constructing a space vessel faster than any purported to be in operation since the day this pearl was forged."

Awestruck, the room is silent, before murmurs begin to break out. "We'll start this off at 400 million- which is quite a steep price, I know, but!" Saki states, "The last remnant of a dead society, graced to be sold here among all you fine, upstanding citizens, if you could unlock the secrets of this pearl, would you not regret passing up the only chance to obtain such a rare, almost priceless-" She wasn't even done when a Memorze man speaks up.

"600 million!" he states, raising his lot number. Saki nods, and turns to the rest of the room.

"Do I hear 625 million?" she asks, "We have an offer of 600 million, do I hear 625?" At that a pale grey hand raises their own hand. "Yes, I see, 625 mill- What's that, 650?" she states, "Okay, do I hear 700 million- yes, you the American ambassador, 700 million!" What follows promptly is a bidding war between many major parties in the room, until the offer is up to a one billion, with a stalemate between a Memorzean, a Balkean, the American diplomat, and a Korean attache, all with spotlights focused on them. Rito then notices some one had dropped their sign on the floor, and went to return it to the woman who dropped it. "Ah- yes, you there, one billion and a quarter?" Saki states, as the spotlight shines down on Rito, who freezes in fear, "Oh- Y-yuuki Rito, ahem, one billion and 250 million, do I hear one and a half billion, no?" Rito had accidentally risen his arm just a little bit to high, and the reflective quality of the sign instantly logged him as a potential bidder. "Do I hear one billion and a half?" Saki desperately calls out, realizing that Yuuki Rito had been a victim of embarrassing circumstances, and she desperately tries to save him, "Do I hear one billion and 300 million,no? Anyone?"

"Uh, n-no, _shit_!" Rito curses, as he feels the heat of the spotlight, and looks around the room to see the previous bidders fall out at the latest bid, "No- this is a misunderstanding, I, I, _I_ -" Rito hears Saki start to count down, and he can only hope when this auction ends, he won't end up embarrassing everyone caught between him and this accident. He hoped Saki would forgive him, that Lala wouldn't try and spring him if he ended up in jail, and he hoped Mikan wouldn't flay him for getting into this accident by being his helplessly, gentlemanly self.

"Two billion," a new voice interjects, and the spotlight lands on a familiar face, "Two billion for the Pearl of the Taoist!" The crowd parts, as Lala walks up to Saki, and turns to face Rito with a smile. Rito can't help but grab his chest in relief, knowing he wasn't in as much trouble as he thought. "Anything to say Rito?" she says playfully, winking at him. Then he realized that Lala just bought the Pearl of the Taoist to save him from embarrassment. He really hoped that wasn't the case for that outrageous of a price.

"And sold, to Lala Satalin Deviluke, for two billion," Saki states with a relieved smile, "You'll join me at the end of the event, and we will conduct the transaction in private, if you agree Lala-hime!" Lala nods, as the Pearl is covered and carted off, and Saki exits the stage. Rito can't help but sigh in relief, as Lala approaches him, with the crowd of onlookers departing.

"Thank you very much, Lala, I don't know if you meant to do it or not, but you just saved us from an embarrassing situation," he state, as he hug the Devilukean princes gratefully, and she laughs in reply.

"Actually Rito, it's a good thing you managed to scare the other bidders off, if I had interjected when I did, they would have raised the price further just to spite Deviluke," she states, "But you, an inexperienced earthling, they didn't know you, or how far you were willing to go to make others pay for the Pearl, so they stopped to see how serious you were about the Pearl." She leans forward and kisses Rito on the cheek, and he goes red and blushes at the action. "Thanks to you, I only had to spend two of the ten billion allowance Zasttin just said my Mother gave me," Lala states, and Rito's brain cracks at that revelation, "It seems someone is after the Pearl and is coming here for it, so my Father and Mother allowed me to buy it, so it could be sent to Deviluke by tomorrow..." Rito nods, as Lala continues on. "Apparently Mother showed interest in it, once she learned the Pearl was being sold on Earth," Lala continues, "She had money transferred into Zastin's ship, so that I could purchase it for her, for whatever reason she wants it for." Saki then approaches them with Rin in tow, who then asks for both of them to follow them to her study.

 _Saki's Personal Study_

Lala, Rito, Saki, and Rin all file into the room, where Aya is already standing with the covered container holding the Pearl of the Taoist. Lala smiles upon seeing it, walking up as Aya uncovers its container once more. Lala then turns to Saki and brings out her Dedial. "Would you like it in earth currency, planetary land, stocks, property percentages, gold, silver, diamonds, Devilukean currency, or quatloos?" she asks sincerely, which causes Saki to cough, "Ah, I can also mix up the value,so that you can hold portions of each across planets, or make it easier for you to establish legal bases outside of Earth to do business?" Saki turns a bit red at that, before she coughs into her hand and steadies herself.

"Thank you, very much Lala-hime, but I'm afraid there is a bit of a catch, on our part, for buying the Pearl," this causes both Rito and Lala to become wary, as she states this, but Saki throws up her hands in defense, "Nothing that will impact the business transaction on your behalf, no, actually it was an odd specification by the anonymous buyer, one to assure him that the Pearl was being properly handed over to the winner of the auction." Aya brings out an old style of camera, one that actually prints the picture out from the bottom. "He wants a picture of you holding the Pearl, a physical memento, as it were," she states embarrassed by the request herself, "It's odd, but that is all he asked for, before we handed off the Pearl." Looking at each other, both Lala and Rito shrug, and he steps aside as Lala is handed the case enclosing the pearl. "Smile!" Saki states, as the flash goes off and Aya removes the drying photo, "There, now we can discuss how the Pearl will be paid for-" That was when the room exploded into a flurry of motion.

Throwing himself onto Lala, Rito tries to cover her by putting his back to the exploding wall, as Saki and Aya are likewise covered by Rin, as the study explodes inwards. Rushing into the room, Yami-chan appears, followed by Mikan, who carries Celine, and Momo and Nana. As the dust clears, the remains of the front of a ordinary civilian trading vessel is seen amongst the rubble of the west wall of Saki's former study. The nose of the ship, and its hood, actually appear to have broken upon impact, and reveal the dead body of a blue humanoid at the helm. "What just happened?" Rito asks, as the dust clears and nothing seems to move, "Did this guys' ship fail him, or did someone do something-" Suddenly there is movement from the interior of the ship, as something fast cuts through the settling dust and aims straight for Rito's head.

Suddenly Yami is there, with her hair already a blade and blocking the extended form of a whip, which quickly returns into the darkness of the ship. "Ah, Golden Darkness," a female voice states, as light catches their golden eyes staring out from the ship, "It seems fate has caused our paths to cross again, earlier than I anticipated, but it shouldn't have surprised me that you would be coming after the Pearl as well..." A blonde harpy with one large ponytail in the shape of a drill, walks into the clearing with her whip in hand, and a piece of glinting metal in her hand, bloodied red by her kill. Or not, as Rito realizes the aliens blood appeared to be blue.

Yami readies herself to attack, until the whip lashes out and wraps around the fallen container holding the pearl. She pulls it back quickly, it rolls underneath her heel, and she puts her foot right over the glass. "Unless you want this Pearl destroyed, I suggest you all take a step back, and let me get what I want," Azenda the Tyrant states, before grabbing her whip and coiling it back up, with everyone taking a step back, "Thank you!" Bringing her foot down into the glass, the container shatters, and she laughs as everyone freezes. Grabbing the pearl before anyone can move against her, she laughs as she holds it in her hand, grasping the obsidian jewel.

"I thought you were a Tyrant, Azenda?" Momo states, "Have you been reduced to the state of a petty thief just to make a living?" Even though she taunts the mad assassin, the glint in Azenda's eye doesn't diminish at the barb.

"Child, you really think I would result to petty theft?" she states, lower the hand that holds the pearl to her hip, "You don't know the proper history of this little jewel, otherwise you foolish little humans wouldn't have sold such a device to just anyone!" She puts her whip to her hip, and grasps the pearl in her hand, drawing out the dagger she had held at the same time. "The Pearl of the Taoist, isn't some ancient holy relic, there isn't any mystical secret to restoring life to the dead, or whatever other lies they've fooled themselves into thinking in this galaxy; in the Tahl Galaxy, an item like this is understood as the weapon it is!" she laughs as she plunges the shard into the pearl, the hard surface somehow becoming malleable as they watch, "Behold, the true power of the Tao; the ability to reconstruct perfection embodied!" Suddenly the fragment of metal within the pearl begins to glow, before the ship behind Azenda begins to glow brighter, as shards of metal resonate with the fragment embedded within the pearl.

Letting go the pearl begins to float, and slowly the fragments in the ship and strewn across the room at impact, suddenly hover around the pierced relic. In moments they seem to turn into a flurry of metal, as the pieces become a maelstrom, with the pearl at its center. Suddenly a form begins to take shape, familiar as the black and red body is reconstructed, much to the horror of those transfixed by the event. Finally the last piece removes itself from the pearl, and the ugly tip of the blade, seals the sword together in a blinding flash of light. Azenda the Tyrant quickly reaches for the blade as it stops floating, grabbing the Pearl likewise. Rito, Lala, Momo, Nana, Saki, Aya, and Rin all stare in horror as the mad Azenda the Tyrant holds the most dangerous, blood soaked weapon in galactic history. Bladix had returned, whole once more.

"You broke a parasitic sword and yourself out of jail, just to fix it with a magic pearl?" Rito asks, "Why not just get someone who knows what they're doing fix the sword, why crash into Saki-san's study just to steal the pearl, when you could have done it at anytime before the pearl even made it to Earth?" Lala and Momo look to Rito, while he stares Azenda down. Yami, too, is staring the crazed former assassin down, watching her micro-expressions for a hint at what she was doing. Azenda just smiles, as she looks towards Rin, and Yami moves across the room to Rin. Unfortunately she moves too late, as Azenda has already dragged the girl to her position, after grabbing her with the whip no one had noticed her replace the Pearl with.

"Don't move, don't even blink Devilukean princess, nor you Golden Darkness; no one move a muscle or I slit her throat before any of you act!" she states with deadly intent, pinning her hands behind her in one arm, while holding the Pearl to her head in the other, "You've only seen what the pearl can do to objects, now let me show you why I needed the Pearl while it was here!" In a second the Pearl ripples, a spike suddenly jutting out from it, before Azenda drives it into her neck and spinal cord. "One speck of movement on your behalf, Golden Darkness, and this girls neck is snapped," she states as she sees Yami tense up, along with Rito, "She isn't going to be in pain; the Pearl is merely searching out for the thing I am looking for, the item within her memories that I need to complete my mission." The Pearl suddenly retracts and dims from its glowing state, and Azenda growls at that reaction. "Damn, I surely thought she would have it!" Azenda states, before pushing the girl towards the others, readying her whip at the same time, "Looks like I'll have to extrapolate what I'm looking for by some other means, a pity it couldn't go my way." Rin stumbles forward, before Rito grabs her and pulls her back, happy to see she was unhurt but unconscious.

"It seems the consciousness of Bladix is not asleep in her, even though my reports say she was the last host," Azenda states, "The nano machines that make up the pearl can't find Bladix's 'soul' within hers..." She curls her lip into a sneer, before looking haughtily at Yami. "It appears I've lost this time Golden Darkness, though I will find what I am looking for..." She looks to the Pearl and smiles, a wicked idea forming in her head, "Let me leave you with a parting gift, since I've shown you just part of what the Taoist's Pearl can do to organics, let's see how you like the feeling of having your power eating you up from the inside!" Suddenly the Pearl glows, a spike shoots out towards Golden Darkness, who reflexively turns her hair into a heavy shield. The spike never makes it though, as the Yami retracts the shield to see a horrific sight.

Kuro, Black, stood in face to face with her, hand gripping his side, as blood gushed from where the barbed spike had hit him. In the hand not trying to keep the wound sealed, he held the bloodied projectile, caught before it could hit its intended target. "Came in at just the right time," he says cheekily smiling at Yami, "Glad I could be of service, t help you, Eve." In that moment he collapsed into her arms, blood coming from his mouth suggesting massive internal bleeding from her friend. Yami sets him down and tries to staunch the blood flow, as Nana rushes to her side to help him. She can't help but cry out, tears starting to flow down the living weapons face.

At that moment Azenda laughs at Yami's show of weakness, happy she could cause her pain. That was the wrong thing to do, as Yami whirls on the Tyrant and ascends into her Darkness form. As she was about to create an immensity powerful weapon to kill her slowly with, Kuro grabs her ankle, and it causes her to pause in shock. "It's not w-worth it, g-getting your revenge," he says, coughing up more blood, as he weakly lets go of her ankle, "Eve- y-Yami, don't burden your heart with more darkness, not after everything you've done to prove my choice was right..." She stops, returning her hand to its normal form, and looks incredibly pissed off and angry at Azenda the Tyrant.

"Normally I would not forgive such insolence, for you attacking my friends and targeting them like this," she states coldly, her menacing appearance even causing Azenda to freeze, "You have not won this day, Azenda, now you will be sent to a place I know you can do no harm." Waving her hand, her hair forms into a wormhole, from which she pulls out the Pearl of the Taoist. Azenda then looks confusedly at her empty hand, before looking back towards Yami and gulping. Yami then puts her hand forward, her hair following her actions and a wormhole moves to swallow up Azenda the Tyrant in her whole form. With that done, Yami moves to look after the dying Black, her savior Kuro. With a flick of her hair, both are swallowed up by Yami and they disappear from sight, to places unknown.

" _Yami_!" Rito shouts, as he holds the still passed out form of Rin in his hands, "Where did they go?" He passes her gently off to Momo and Lala, who then began to look the bodyguard over for any physical harm caused to her by the infestation of the nano machines. Rito meanwhile, goes to the place where Yami and Black once sat, but finds no trace of them save a drying pool of blood on the carpet, strewn about with the shattered splinters of the bookcase and blown away scraps of paper that once made up the books. That was when Rito's eyes laid upon the sight of the forgotten blade, somehow Azenda had lost track of it when Yami had went for her, after the attack on Rin. He feels the same icy attraction he did to the pearl, but he brushes that away with the anger that the cursed sword brought up into his heart.

"No, Rito, don't!" Lala calls out, as she sees him reaching for the sword, "We don't know what Azenda did with the Pearl to repair Bladix, he could have been-" The words died in Rito's ears as his had brushed the hilt, the blood in his ears drowning out with their harsh and fast pumping. He holds the blade up and into the light, the black metal polished to the point that Rito could see a muted reflection of himself inside. The light grows and catches his eye as he admires his reflection, and Rito's world begins to spin as he feels something sharp, begin digging into his hand and through the veins in his arm holding the sword. He felt his arm grow numb, and then his heart stop. It seemed Azenda would have the last laugh after all, as Rito succumbed to the Darkness that consumed his thoughts and blurred his vision.

"Rito, fight it!" he heard Lala, (or was it Momo?), speak, though her voice was dimming, "I believe in you Rito- you won't become-" Rito soon found himself falling into the cool darkness.

 _Arctic Circle_

The honking of seals is heard, as Azenda the former Tyrant, waits in the freezing cold snow and ice. Currently a curious Arctic Fox was watching her from beneath a barren tree, its oddly golden eyes glinting at her in the sun. Azenda merely snarls at the creature, which causes it to skirt off into the underbrush and snow, where it disappears into its den. Suddenly a shadow covers the land, and the freezing Tyrant looks up to see the massive form of a space ship take up the sky. Her ride had finally made it to her location, and picked her up.

"You couldn't come pick me up any faster?" she asks her partner, "I may be stronger than most of these pitiful humans, but that doesn't mean I don't get cold easily." Her partner chuckles, before tossing her some warmer clothes and a blanket.

"I apologize, madam, but I had to pick something up before I could retrieve you," they states, waving what they had procured in her field of view, "I'm not one to go back on a business deal, especially one so satisfying as to know the circumstances behind it." Azenda picks the item from his hands, before sneering at it.

"A primitive photograph?" she sneers, "Hmm, perhaps relishing in the fact they had one happy moment before their lives were snuffed out and property taken from their grasp, would have been satisfying, had there not been so much unexpected interference." Letting go, the photo flutters to the ground, showing Lala holding the Pearl of the Taoist. "Why go through these motions, just to have me steal the Pearl back from them?" Azenda asks, "We could have retrieved Bladix and been done; you might as well render the hit on Rin Kojou null too, she didn't even hold the blades consciousness within her soul..." Her partner nods, before folding his hands over his face and smiling.

"Perhaps, but seeing as you left the sword behind, it was only fair I leave a booby trap within it, set for one valiant soul," he says, "Yuuki Rito, no doubt, would have gone to retrieve the sword from where you dropped it in your scuffle with Golden Darkness, and unless the post-suggestive order I put within the nanites fails to activate, I believe Bladix will come about all on his own." Azenda smiles at that as well, knowing how much she wished to see her enemies face at that prospect.


	11. The Return of old Enemies!

_Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim that I, in fact, do not own To Love Ru, or To Love Ru: Darkness_

Mikan knew something was going to go wrong the moment Rito was invited to dance by either Lala or Momo, but she didn't know her brother could dance as well as he did. It had been years since he had done anything as formal as this, though she couldn't say he wasn't a good dancer. Perhaps it was that fact he had been with Lala, who seemed to glance across the dance floor like it was her battleground, and Rito was her weapon. Then again, Lala's own beauty was enough to kill anyone who looked at her, and be raised back to life as love zombies infatuated with her. She knew that must have happened with Momo at the very least, since she had her 'Venus Momo Fanclub' at her beck and call, even if what she can tell from Momo's complaints, it wasn't exactly mutual, as it was unexpected.

Rito dipped Lala casually in an unexpected waltz, before pulling her back up and into his arms. Momo was biting her thumb in jealousy, seeing her older sister dance with Rito so smoothly. She half expected Rito to fall, or trip, and rip Lala's dress off, exposing her breast to the ballroom, and Lala's embarrassment. Of course both just smiled and seemed to compliment each other in their movements, Rito's stiffness obscured by Lala's unpredictability and swaying hips. It was no wonder that Lala had stolen half the hearts in the school, between Momo and herself, Lala was no doubt one of the lustful beauties in the school. She really hoped that Rito would make a fool of himself, just so she could feel justified for her jealous feelings towards her older sister. 'Not that she had any right t be jealous of Lala,' she reminded herself, 'He is her fiance, he probably managed to get some practice in somehow.'

Rito was just happy that, along with spending part of the summer practicing swordsmen ship, that he was taught the basics of dancing to not only improve his coordination, but keep him from making a fool out of himself on the occasion he was expected to dance with Lala, if the time ever came. Thankfully the time was at hand, and he managed to keep himself from falling onto her after partially slipping while dipping her down, or accidentally releasing his tight grip on her hands. But he managed to survive the experience, and happily took Lala aside to catch their breath before another round of dance, or a drink lest he get asked by some enamored girl to dance with him. As he was grabbing some of the punch, he was thoroughly surprised that he was tapped on the shoulder by Rin, of all people, in a beautiful, china-style dress, carrying a fan with glinting metal edges at her side, which Rito guessed could easily double as a weapon.

"Y-Yuuki Rito, I know you just vacated the dance floor..." she states, slightly blushing, "But I find I would like to express my gratitude for your help with a dance." Rito wants to blush, before he realizes that he could possibly take the time to ask to see Rin alone after the auction.

"Uh, I would be glad to dance with you!" he replies, just a bit to eagerly he realizes, "I- uh, I mean it would be a pleasure, since I have something to ask of you, as well." Rin raises an eyebrow at this, before smirking and grabbing his hand as the music signals the start of another number.

 _Beyond the Kuiper Belt_

A merchants ship was sailing through asteroids towards its current destination. The Blue skinned Captain of the ship was sweating, obviously perturbed by their current course, and the threat of the knife being held to his back was no help at all. The male alien could barely keep his cool as he piloted his ship past sensor buoys put out by Devilukean ships in the area, and transmitted his clearance code for trade in the system. He lined up his ship and set up automatic landing protocols, before turning away from his console with his hands up. "T-there, I d-did what you asked, n-now please let me go!" he states out in fear, "My three wives, and twelve kids, they need me out here, I'm just doing my job to pay for their food; so please, I beg of you, spare-" Blue liquid spattered the deck before the man even hit the deck, falling from his chair.

"Twelve children, please, did you think I am stupid?" the sinister voice of his attacker replies, as they pull out a rag to wipe the newly blue coat off the metal dagger, leaving it a gleaming obsidian once again, "Now, Golden Darkness, I will have my revenge... and with this sword made whole once more, I will have the power to send even you to your knees!" Holding up the broken tip of the once whole sword in her hand, the woman smiles as she sees her golden eyes reflecting in the blackened mirror. Breaking out into a deep, cackling laugh the unknown killer watches the planets streak by, as the merchant ships moves ever closer to its destination.

 _Tenjouin Estate_

As Rito stepped off the dance floor, out of breath by the longer than necessary dance, he takes a seat as Rin does likewise. "So, Yuuki Rito, what was it you wanted to ask of me?" Rin states, "Surely you aren't seeking more favor from me, after I got you invited to this lovely dance, where you could impress your girlfriend?" Rito sputters at that, just wondering who she thought was his girlfriend, considering he had been with Momo at the time.

"N-no, n-nothing like that, and I'm sure Momo appreciated the invite as well as I do," Rito states, trying to calm himself and become serious, "No, this is actually a question I have for you, regarding Lala-" Suddenly the music halts, as the crowd hushes and the lights give way to a spotlight on a stage.

"Meet me in Saki-sama's study," Rin states to Rito in a whisper, "I'm afraid I'll be needed for the auction right now, but I can speak to you there after business is concluded; good night, Yuuki Rito!" Pulling away, Rin disappears into the crowd, walking towards the middle of the room, where Saki Tenjouin stands at the center on a raised platform.

"Welcome everyone, to the Tenjouin Cultural Auction, an event being hosted due to generous contributions from artists and historians around the Earth, in an attempt to broaden the knowledge and diversity of Earth, and bring it to the stars," she says, smiling brightly to the assembled humans, aliens, and assorted guests, "I'm sure you are all just waiting for the star of our auction, a fine piece provided by our anonymous benefactor, who wishes to stay that way; the Pearl of the Taoist, is truly the first of many items we hope to have showcased on Earth in our future business dealings with the greater galactic community." She turns to show the first item being wheeled up on a cart. "But first, before we can spoil the surprise item of our show, we must start the auction with a jade piece from the Zhou period," she states, as a large jade pate with a hole in its center is revealed, "The Bi, as these pieces are called, represent ancient Chinese understanding of the heavens, associated with..."

Rito had zoned off at the technical talk surrounding the art, and other historical artifacts showcased here, as none of them really interested him. It seemed Mikan and Celine were thoroughly enraptured, along with Lala who stood near the back of the crowd, along with Momo who looked more interested in the cup of punch in her hand. Chuckling, Rito could understand her pain, as the items seemed to just go on and on. He know saw why Rin had to leave, though, since it appeared between her and Aya, and one or two other girls, they seemed to be showcasing the items being auctioned, pulling or pushing them on carts and other modes of transport for the larger pieces of cultural significance. He was quite surprised, when one of the massive Easter Island heads were showcased, its surprisingly had a small body exposed to the open air from bellow the main head, which was something new that Rito guess he would learn from the Auction. He almost ignored the sound of Lala's Dedial, before looking over to see her pull away from Momo and the group.

"Hello?" Lala answered quietly, after pulling away from the main group, "Zastin?" She listened as he talked, taking in every word as he spoke to her. "Uh-huh, huh, mmmhmmm, sure..." she replies every so often to his query, and the Devilukean eyes go wide at the final response, "Say that again, Zastin, how much?" Rito had made his way over, just as she ended the call with the Devilukean guard, and he goes to speak with her, but she brushes right past him. He watches as she marches through the crowd, just as the final item before the Pearl is auctioned off to a Gourmand.

Saki smiles as the last item, a chunk of the finest swiss chocolate that is accompanied by a half-ton stored in the back, is carted off. Finally both Aya and Rin come in, Aya pushing the cart, with Rin standing by her side, clearly showing a sharp and bladed sword in her possession, to ward off anyone foolish enough to do something. "Ladies, gentleman, visitors of all kinds, we will now be drawing to a close after auctioning off the final item of the night," Saki says, as she grabs the cloth draped over a cylindrical container containing the Pearl of the Taoist, and gives it a quick tug, freeing the view, "May I present to you, with great pleasure I might add, the Pearl of the Taoist, the last remaining one of its kind in this galaxy, created some two thousand years ago by the estimates of reputable xeno-archeologists," Saki states with glee, "Legends purport that in the right hands, the Taoist energy within can be utilized to do almost anything, from saving the life of a small child, to sharpening the dullest blade to the thinnest degree, to constructing a space vessel faster than any purported to be in operation since the day this pearl was forged."

Awestruck, the room is silent, before murmurs begin to break out. "We'll start this off at 400 million- which is quite a steep price, I know, but!" Saki states, "The last remnant of a dead society, graced to be sold here among all you fine, upstanding citizens, if you could unlock the secrets of this pearl, would you not regret passing up the only chance to obtain such a rare, almost priceless-" She wasn't even done when a Memorze man speaks up.

"600 million!" he states, raising his lot number. Saki nods, and turns to the rest of the room.

"Do I hear 625 million?" she asks, "We have an offer of 600 million, do I hear 625?" At that a pale grey hand raises their own hand. "Yes, I see, 625 mill- What's that, 650?" she states, "Okay, do I hear 700 million- yes, you the American ambassador, 700 million!" What follows promptly is a bidding war between many major parties in the room, until the offer is up to a one billion, with a stalemate between a Memorzean, a Balkean, the American diplomat, and a Korean attache, all with spotlights focused on them. Rito then notices some one had dropped their sign on the floor, and went to return it to the woman who dropped it. "Ah- yes, you there, one billion and a quarter?" Saki states, as the spotlight shines down on Rito, who freezes in fear, "Oh- Y-yuuki Rito, ahem, one billion and 250 million, do I hear one and a half billion, no?" Rito had accidentally risen his arm just a little bit to high, and the reflective quality of the sign instantly logged him as a potential bidder. "Do I hear one billion and a half?" Saki desperately calls out, realizing that Yuuki Rito had been a victim of embarrassing circumstances, and she desperately tries to save him, "Do I hear one billion and 300 million,no? Anyone?"

"Uh, n-no, _shit_!" Rito curses, as he feels the heat of the spotlight, and looks around the room to see the previous bidders fall out at the latest bid, "No- this is a misunderstanding, I, I, _I_ -" Rito hears Saki start to count down, and he can only hope when this auction ends, he won't end up embarrassing everyone caught between him and this accident. He hoped Saki would forgive him, that Lala wouldn't try and spring him if he ended up in jail, and he hoped Mikan wouldn't flay him for getting into this accident by being his helplessly, gentlemanly self.

"Two billion," a new voice interjects, and the spotlight lands on a familiar face, "Two billion for the Pearl of the Taoist!" The crowd parts, as Lala walks up to Saki, and turns to face Rito with a smile. Rito can't help but grab his chest in relief, knowing he wasn't in as much trouble as he thought. "Anything to say Rito?" she says playfully, winking at him. Then he realized that Lala just bought the Pearl of the Taoist to save him from embarrassment. He really hoped that wasn't the case for that outrageous of a price.

"And sold, to Lala Satalin Deviluke, for two billion," Saki states with a relieved smile, "You'll join me at the end of the event, and we will conduct the transaction in private, if you agree Lala-hijme!" Lala nods, as the Pearl is covered and carted off, and Saki exits the stage. Rito can't help but sigh in relief, as Lala approaches him, with the crowd of onlookers departing.

"Thank you very much, Lala, I don't know if you meant to do it or not, but you just saved us from an embarrassing situation," he state, as he hug the Devilukean princes gratefully, and she laughs in reply.

"Actually Rito, it's a good thing you managed to scare the other bidders off, if I had interjected when I did, they would have raised the price further just to spite Deviluke," she states, "But you, an inexperienced earthling, they didn't know you, or how far you were willing to go to make others pay for the Pearl, so they stopped to see how serious you were about the Pearl." She leans forward and kisses Rito on the cheek, and he goes red and blushes at the action. "Thanks to you, I only had to spend two of the ten billion allowance Zasttin just said my Mother gave me," Lala states, and Rito's brain cracks at that revelation, "It seems someone is after the Pearl and is coming here for it, so my Father and Mother allowed me to buy it, so it could be sent to Deviluke by tomorrow..." Rito nods, as Lala continues on. "Apparently Mother showed interest in it, once she learned the Pearl was being sold on Earth," Lala continues, "She had money transferred into Zastin's ship, so that I could purchase it for her, for whatever reason she wants it for." Saki then approaches them with Rin in tow, who then asks for both of them to follow them to her study.

 _Saki's Personal Study_

Lala, Rito, Saki, and Rin all file into the room, where Aya is already standing with the covered container holding the Pearl of the Taoist. Lala smiles upon seeing it, walking up as Aya uncovers its container once more. Lala then turns to Saki and brings out her Dedial. "Would you like it in earth currency, planetary land, stocks, property percentages, gold, silver, diamonds, Devilukean currency, or quatloos?" she asks sincerely, which causes Saki to cough, "Ah, I can also mix up the value,so that you can hold portions of each across planets, or make it easier for you to establish legal bases outside of Earth to do business?" Saki turns a bit red at that, before she coughs into her hand and steadies herself.

"Thank you, very much Lala-hijme, but I'm afraid there is a bit of a catch, on our part, for buying the Pearl," this causes both Rito and Lala to become wary, as she states this, but Saki throws up her hands in defense, "Nothing that will impact the business transaction on your behalf, no, actually it was an odd specification by the anonymous buyer, one to assure him that the Pearl was being properly handed over to the winner of the auction." Aya brings out an old style of camera, one that actually prints the picture out from the bottom. "He wants a picture of you holding the Pearl, a physical memento, as it were," she states embarrassed by the request herself, "It's odd, but that is all he asked for, before we handed off the Pearl." Looking at each other, both Lala and Rito shrug, and he steps aside as Lala is handed the case enclosing the pearl. "Smile!" Saki states, as the flash goes off and Aya removes the drying photo, "There, now we can discuss how the Pearl will be paid for-" That was when the room exploded into a flurry of motion.

Throwing himself onto Lala, Rito tries to cover her by putting his back to the exploding wall, as Saki and Aya are likewise covered by Rin, as the study explodes inwards. Rushing into the room, Yami-chan appears, followed by Mikan, who carries Celine, and Momo and Nana. As the dust clears, the remains of the front of a ordinary civilian trading vessel is seen amongst the rubble of the west wall of Saki's former study. The nose of the ship, and its hood, actually appear to have broken upon impact, and reveal the dead body of a blue humanoid at the helm. "What just happened?" Rito asks, as the dust clears and nothing seems to move, "Did this guys' ship fail him, or did someone do something-" Suddenly there is movement from the interior of the ship, as something fast cuts through the settling dust and aims straight for Rito's head.

Suddenly Yami is there, with her hair already a blade and blocking the extended form of a whip, which quickly returns into the darkness of the ship. "Ah, Golden Darkness," a female voice states, as light catches their golden eyes staring out from the ship, "It seems fate has caused our paths to cross again, earlier than I anticipated, but it shouldn't have surprised me that you would be coming after the Pearl as well..." A blonde harpy with one large ponytail in the shape of a drill, walks into the clearing with her whip in hand, and a piece of glinting metal in her hand, bloodied red by her kill. Or not, as Rito realizes the aliens blood appeared to be blue.

Yami readies herself to attack, until the whip lashes out and wraps around the fallen container holding the pearl. She pulls it back quickly, it rolls underneath her heel, and she puts her foot right over the glass. "Unless you want this Pearl destroyed, I suggest you all take a step back, and let me get what I want," Azenda the Tyrant states, before grabbing her whip and coiling it back up, with everyone taking a step back, "Thank you!" Bringing her foot down into the glass, the container shatters, and she laughs as everyone freezes. Grabbing the pearl before anyone can move against her, she laughs as she holds it in her hand, grasping the obsidian jewel.

"I thought you were a Tyrant, Azenda?" Momo states, "Have you been reduced to the state of a petty thief just to make a living?" Even though she taunts the mad assassin, the glint in Azenda's eye doesn't diminish at the barb.

"Child, you really think I would result to petty theft?" she states, lower the hand that holds the pearl to her hip, "You don't know the proper history of this little jewel, otherwise you foolish little humans wouldn't have sold such a device to just anyone!" She puts her whip to her hip, and grasps the pearl in her hand, drawing out the dagger she had held at the same time. "The Pearl of the Taoist, isn't some ancient holy relic, there isn't any mystical secret to restoring life to the dead, or whatever other lies they've fooled themselves into thinking in this galaxy; in the Tahl Galaxy, an item like this is understood as the weapon it is!" she laughs as she plunges the shard into the pearl, the hard surface somehow becoming malleable as they watch, "Behold, the true power of the Tao; the ability to reconstruct perfection embodied!" Suddenly the fragment of metal within the pearl begins to glow, before the ship behind Azenda begins to glow brighter, as shards of metal resonate with the fragment embedded within the pearl.

Letting go the pearl begins to float, and slowly the fragments in the ship and strewn across the room at impact, suddenly hover around the pierced relic. In moments they seem to turn into a flurry of metal, as the pieces become a maelstrom, with the pearl at its center. Suddenly a form begins to take shape, familiar as the black and red body is reconstructed, much to the horror of those transfixed by the event. Finally the last piece removes itself from the pearl, and the ugly tip of the blade, seals the sword together in a blinding flash of light. Azenda the Tyrant quickly reaches for the blade as it stops floating, grabbing the Pearl likewise. Rito, Lala, Momo, Nana, Saki, Aya, and Rin all stare in horror as the mad Azenda the Tyrant holds the most dangerous, blood soaked weapon in galactic history. Bladix had returned, whole once more.

"You broke a parasitic sword and yourself out of jail, just to fix it with a magic pearl?" Rito asks, "Why not just get someone who knows what they're doing fix the sword, why crash into Saki-san's study just to steal the pearl, when you could have done it at anytime before the pearl even made it to Earth?" Lala and Momo look to Rito, while he stares Azenda down. Yami, too, is staring the crazed former assassin down, watching her micro-expressions for a hint at what she was doing. Azenda just smiles, as she looks towards Rin, and Yami moves across the room to Rin. Unfortunately she moves too late, as Azenda has already dragged the girl to her position, after grabbing her with the whip no one had noticed her replace the Pearl with.

"Don't move, don't even blink Devilukean princess, nor you Golden Darkness; no one move a muscle or I slit her throat before any of you act!" she states with deadly intent, pinning her hands behind her in one arm, while holding the Pearl to her head in the other, "You've only seen what the pearl can do to objects, now let me show you why I needed the Pearl while it was here!" In a second the Pearl ripples, a spike suddenly jutting out from it, before Azenda drives it into her neck and spinal cord. "One speck of movement on your behalf, Golden Darkness, and this girls neck is snapped," she states as she sees Yami tense up, along with Rito, "She isn't going to be in pain; the Pearl is merely searching out for the thing I am looking for, the item within her memories that I need to complete my mission." The Pearl suddenly retracts and dims from its glowing state, and Azenda growls at that reaction. "Damn, I surely thought she would have it!" Azenda states, before pushing the girl towards the others, readying her whip at the same time, "Looks like I'll have to extrapolate what I'm looking for by some other means, a pity it couldn't go my way." Rin stumbles forward, before Rito grabs her and pulls her back, happy to see she was unhurt but unconscious.

"It seems the consciousness of Bladix is not asleep in her, even though my reports say she was the last host," Azenda states, "The nano machines that make up the pearl can't find Bladix's 'soul' within hers..." She curls her lip into a sneer, before looking haughtily at Yami. "It appears I've lost this time Golden Darkness, though I will find what I am looking for..." She looks to the Pearl and smiles, a wicked idea forming in her head, "Let me leave you with a parting gift, since I've shown you just part of what the Taoist's Pearl can do to organics, let's see how you like the feeling of having your power eating you up from the inside!" Suddenly the Pearl glows, a spike shoots out towards Golden Darkness, who reflexively turns her hair into a heavy shield. The spike never makes it though, as the Yami retracts the shield to see a horrific sight.

Kuro, Black, stood in face to face with her, hand gripping his side, as blood gushed from where the barbed spike had hit him. In the hand not trying to keep the wound sealed, he held the bloodied projectile, caught before it could hit its intended target. "Came in at just the right time," he says cheekily smiling at Yami, "Glad I could be of service, t help you, Eve." In that moment he collapsed into her arms, blood coming from his mouth suggesting massive internal bleeding from her friend. Yami sets him down and tries to staunch the blood flow, as Nana rushes to her side to help him. She can't help but cry out, tears starting to flow down the living weapons face.

At that moment Azenda laughs at Yami's show of weakness, happy she could cause her pain. That was the wrong thing to do, as Yami whirls on the Tyrant and ascends into her Darkness form. As she was about to create an immensity powerful weapon to kill her slowly with, Kuro grabs her ankle, and it causes her to pause in shock. "It's not w-worth it, g-getting your revenge," he says, coughing up more blood, as he weakly lets go of her ankle, "Eve- y-Yami, don't burden your heart with more darkness, not after everything you've done to prove my choice was right..." She stops, returning her hand to its normal form, and looks incredibly pissed off and angry at Azenda the Tyrant.

"Normally I would not forgive such insolence, for you attacking my friends and targeting them like this," she states coldly, her menacing appearance even causing Azenda to freeze, "You have not won this day, Azenda, now you will be sent to a place I know you can do no harm." Waving her hand, her hair forms into a wormhole, from which she pulls out the Pearl of the Taoist. Azenda then looks confusedly at her empty hand, before looking back towards Yami and gulping. Yami then puts her hand forward, her hair following her actions and a wormhole moves to swallow up Azenda the Tyrant in her whole form. With that done, Yami moves to look after the dying Black, her savior Kuro. With a flick of her hair, both are swallowed up by Yami and they disappear from sight, to places unknown.

" _Yami_!" Rito shouts, as he holds the still passed out form of Rin in his hands, "Where did they go?" He passes her gently off to Momo and Lala, who then began to look the bodyguard over for any physical harm caused to her by the infestation of the nano machines. Rito meanwhile, goes to the place where Yami and Black once sat, but finds no trace of them save a drying pool of blood on the carpet, strewn about with the shattered splinters of the bookcase and blown away scraps of paper that once made up the books. That was when Rito's eyes laid upon the sight of the forgotten blade, somehow Azenda had lost track of it when Yami had went for her, after the attack on Rin. He feels the same icy attraction he did to the pearl, but he brushes that away with the anger that the cursed sword brought up into his heart.

"No, Rito, don't!" Lala calls out, as she sees him reaching for the sword, "We don't know what Azenda did with the Pearl to repair Bladix, he could have been-" The words died in Rito's ears as his had brushed the hilt, the blood in his ears drowning out with their harsh and fast pumping. He holds the blade up and into the light, the black metal polished to the point that Rito could see a muted reflection of himself inside. The light grows and catches his eye as he admires his reflection, and Rito's world begins to spin as he feels something sharp, begin digging into his hand and through the veins in his arm holding the sword. He felt his arm grow numb, and then his heart stop. It seemed Azenda would have the last laugh after all, as Rito succumbed to the Darkness that consumed his thoughts and blurred his vision.

"Rito, fight it!" he heard Lala, (or was it Momo?), speak, though her voice was dimming, "I believe in you Rito- you won't become-" Rito soon found himself falling into the cool darkness.

 _Arctic Circle_

The honking of seals is heard, as Azenda the former Tyrant, waits in the freezing cold snow and ice. Currently a curious Arctic Fox was watching her from beneath a barren tree, its oddly golden eyes glinting at her in the sun. Azenda merely snarls at the creature, which causes it to skirt off into the underbrush and snow, where it disappears into its den. Suddenly a shadow covers the land, and the freezing Tyrant looks up to see the massive form of a space ship take up the sky. Her ride had finally made it to her location, and picked her up.

"You couldn't come pick me up any faster?" she asks her partner, "I may be stronger than most of these pitiful humans, but that doesn't mean I don't get cold easily." Her partner chuckles, before tossing her some warmer clothes and a blanket.

"I apologize, madam, but I had to pick something up before I could retrieve you," they states, waving what they had procured in her field of view, "I'm not one to go back on a business deal, especially one so satisfying as to know the circumstances behind it." Azenda picks the item from his hands, before sneering at it.

"A primitive photograph?" she sneers, "Hmm, perhaps relishing in the fact they had one happy moment before their lives were snuffed out and property taken from their grasp, would have been satisfying, had there not been so much unexpected interference." Letting go, the photo flutters to the ground, showing Lala holding the Pearl of the Taoist. "Why go through these motions, just to have me steal the Pearl back from them?" Azenda asks, "We could have retrieved Bladix and been done; you might as well render the hit on Rin Kojou null too, she didn't even hold the blades consciousness within her soul..." Her partner nods, before folding his hands over his face and smiling.

"Perhaps, but seeing as you left the sword behind, it was only fair I leave a booby trap within it, set for one valiant soul," he says, "Yuuki Rito, no doubt, would have gone to retrieve the sword from where you dropped it in your scuffle with Golden Darkness, and unless the post-suggestive order I put within the nanites fails to activate, I believe Bladix will come about all on his own." Azenda smiles at that as well, knowing how much she wished to see her enemies face at that prospect.


	12. Interlude Pt2: A Brief History of Lala

_Disclaimer: Be warned, implied character death, and descriptions of violence ahead. You have been warned. Also, I do not own To Love Ru, obviously._

Rito wakes up to the darkness, his orange eyes are glassy and unseeing. There is nothing to see after all, since he feels like he has been falling for an eternity. He must have passed onto hell, or some dark plane of existence, slain by whatever alien entity the Pearl of the Taoist forced into the cursed sword to make it whole again. The benefit of this dream world was that it had stopped feeling like he was falling, and begging to feel more like he was resting on the softest bed of clouds he could ever have imagined. Perhaps this was what waited Lala and the others after death, perhaps this was his soul being sucked into the sword, perhaps he was just unconscious and tired from the attack on the Tenjouin estate.

He smiled at that last bit, because he knew he was just lying to himself now. When he had picked up the sword and it had blinded him, he felt whatever nano machines were left in it, burrow into his arm and begin to eat into it. No doubt the Tyrant queen had laid the sword with the same nanites she wished to use against Yami-chan, to eat him up form the inside out. Pain had stopped once he had fallen blissfully asleep into the darkness, and was non-existent since he woke up. He just hoped this wasn't reality, if they had eaten at his nerves, taken the pain away, along with his sight, voice, and hearing, he knew he would go mad and- No, he mustn't think that way, not when there was still a chance he wasn't dead!

 **'How long has it since I've seen such hopelessness?'** a voice out of the darkness states, echoing all around him, **'Too long, this darkness has been here too long...'** Rito tries to focus his eyes, his senses in any way, to see, to hear, who was speaking. **'Don't bother, don't worry,'** the voice continues, **'I will reveal myself to you,** ** _boy_** **, in time...'** Rito doesn't know what he means, but suddenly it feels like gravity is reasserting itself on him, and he feels like he is falling again, as he struggles to breath. Whatever the voice is doing to him, he struggles to breath, as cold wind rushes past him, as he falls...

And falls...

Falls...

Fal-

F-

 ** _Begin Interlude: The Brief History of Lala, Pt.2_**

When Lala wakes Roido up, he finds Mau standing nearby, an ever present smile on the young Plantasian Apprentice's face. "You're okay Master, Mau!" he states with joy, "Ehem- I mean, I am glad to see Lala-san hadn't given you too much of a shock, but I understand why she scared you like she did!" The white flower on his hair flops as he nods, putting his hand to his chin as he does so. "Yes, who knew tails were a thing!" Mau states, oblivious to Lala's swirling, red tail, "I mean, I knew animals have tails, but people? Who knew!" Roido quietly massages the bridge of his nose, pushing up his glasses to rub his eyes as he does so, trying to ignore his apprentices obliviousness at alien features.

"Did it surprise you at all that she had a tail?" Roido states, pointing to a confused Lala, who has a finger to her mouth that in Roido's opinion made her just to ka- innocent looking, "The fact she has THAT tail, didn't raise any alarms in your head?" Mau just scratches his head in confusion, just as oblivious as Lala is to Roido's concern. Roido just can't help but stare slack jawed at his apprentice, knowing while he was young, and while, yes, he had been exposed to all manner of aliens in his line of work, there really wasn't very many examples of non-Charmian life on Charmia.

"What about my tail?" Lala asks, looking at her spade tipped tail, "I know it would be unusual in this era- but it shouldn't be that big of a concern, since Mau was okay with seeing me?" Roido just tries to resist the urge to plant his face in the wall, and instead turns to Lala with all seriousness, his hand straying to fix his glasses position on his nose.

"Well, Miss Lala, I believe the problem lies in the current situation I am facing, that all of Charmia is facing, regarding the forging of a weapon to defeat a demon at the edge of Charmian territory!" he states, before pointing his finger at Lala, "You, of course, resemble the creature in all but hair color and gender; reports state the massive creature towers over our houses, is stronger than our toughest beast of burden, and has a curious tail likened to one that resembles a spade, such as yours!" Lala imagines a hilarious, hoofed creature with red fur and a tail like hers, before shaking her daydream away and recognizing that the reports of the creature matched her own features.

"You mean, they're like me?" she states, now recognizing the tales as the sign that the 'creature' was obviously a Devilukean in features, if not outright, "I might look like him, but I am not the 'creature' that is outside your lands, in fact I just arrived here less than an hour ago, from out of the sky as Mau can attest to!" The Plantasian orphan nods and shakes his head in agreement. Roido merely scowls at the young mans eagerness to please, but sighs nonetheless and takes a look at Lala again.

True, she looked similar to the descriptions of the creature, but then again there was little else that matched up. Her feminine figure, her intelligence, the bright smile that reminded her of her sister, along with the hair- Roido shakes the image of his beloved younger sister from his thoughts, before sighing and running his hand through his hair. "Very well,' he states, "I will believe you for now, Miss Lala, but know this, if you betray me or my work in any fashion, I will not hesitate to use anyone of my numerous creations to cut you, and that beast, down!" Lala nods at the man's scary tone, his cold bloodedness showing through in the threat she honestly believed he would hold to. "Miss Lala," he states, looking her in the eye, "I am going to return to my work in the forge, the room at the very back; please do not go out without Mau's supervision and a cloak to hide your tail." Lala nods, as the older man stands and runs his hand through his hair once more.

"Mau," he says looking at his apprentice, "You may answer all of her questions, save what I am currently working on, and do your best to keep her away from the others, as I doubt they will react to her presence well." The plantasian nods, before watching his mentor leave the room. He turns to Lala and smiles.

"Well, he basically just gave you a free pass to ask whatever you want about us," he states, What would you like to know?" Lala ponders that for a second, before her thoughts stray to how protective the man, Roido, seemed over his apprentice, Mau.

"How did Roido-sensei come to have you, as his apprentice?" Lala asks, and Mau looks at her cross eyed for a moment, "Well, if you don't want to tell me..." Mau smiles suddenly and uncrosses his eyes, finishing contemplating his response.

"Come join me in a more comfortable area," he states, "This tale needs snacks!" Lala follows Mau out of the room, through a hallway and some other side rooms, before coming into a kitchen and getting food. From there, Mau directs her to another room which carries a more natural look, decorated with leaves, plants, and flowers overlooking a converted canopy bed.

"Wow!" Lala stares in amazement at the look of the room, she didn't know someone could be into plants as much as her sister Momo could be, though this room was a far cry from the virtual space her sister used, "It's so big, with so many varieties of plants!" Mau smiles and turns to her.

"They're all gifts from Roido-sama's sister, Michella, she has traveled all over Charmia and collected all these different plants for me!" He states, moving over to a fluffy, featherlike, pink flower with wide leaves, "This one, for example was taken from the southern tropics, or that one, the icy northern tundra!" Lala stares in awe at each plant in the room, as he begins to water or feed them. She then begins to wonder something.

"Does she have an affinity for plants, or something that allows all these plants to thrive out of their natural habitats?" Lala asks in wonder, "I thought Charmian's never developed natural abilities, beyond females having unnaturally high pheromone levels that affect men?" Mau nods, and sets down a watering can, motioning for her to sit on the bed, as he takes a stand on the back of a chair, slumping over it on his elbows.

"Nothing special, she just knows that she can't visit me otherwise I would become 'raging beast'; their words not mine," Mau states, holding up his hands, "Her work as an ambassador has taken her all over the world, and ever since she found out I was living with Roido-sama, she tries to spoil me like any of her nieces or nephews with plants as gifts!" He sighs wistfully, before opening a drawer and pulling out a picture frame which he hands to Lala. "This is a picture of the royal family when Roido-sama was young; he's the youngest of ten children," Mau states, as Lala looks over the family portrait showcasing children of various ages and hair colors, "Seven sons and three daughters, the Royal Family is actually quite large by Charmian standards, and each of them work in different fields of study until their Father decides to retire as King."

Lala notes that they all look happy in the picture, and then she notices a girl that looks like Nana, smiling and hugging a younger looking Roido, who seems to be pouting when the picture was taken. "Is this Michella-san?" Lala asks, pointing to the two, "They look like they could be twins, if they didn't have different hair colors!" Mau smiles, as if he was in on a secret.

"Actually, don't tell Roido-sama I said this, but he is her twin," Mau states, "There's some genetic defect in Roido-sama's genes that caused him to develop some defections that Michella didn't inherit." Mau sighs and looks melancholy at the picture, once Lala hands it back. "Ironically those same defects caused Roido to be considered and outcast all his life," Mau states, "The Charmians are a spiritually inclined race, believing in omens and prophecies from a time when a person like Roido-sama was considered a witch holding mysterious powers." Lala looks sad at this revelation, that even an enlightened race could still be tied down by ancient fears and superstitions. "Don't blame the mistakes on the people of the past, Lala," Mau states, "There is truth in these ancient legends, though Roido-sama has gone to great lengths to keep it from becoming public knowledge." Mau changes his frown into a smile. "But we were talking about me, and my history with Roido-sama!" he states, "I only know the story from what Roido has told me, but originally it started with the need to test out his latest masterpiece on a world with the toughest conditions in the known universe: Mistletoe."

-

 _The Planet Mistletoe, Many Years Ago_

Roido exits from his spaceship, onto the alien landscape of the most dangerous planets in the universe. The heavy elements in the air made conventional technology nearly impossible, without foreknowledge of the planets unique magnetosphere. Thankfully Roido knew of the dangers when he chose to visit this planet, and made sure to shield his ship for the eventual return home. Pulling out the weapon he wished to test, a cane, he drives it into the ground. Just as he is about to activate the weapon, he feels a vine snag the cane and pull it out of his grasp. Roido was instantly on alert, knowing that no one should be here as this planet was Class S, and no sane person would come here without a reason.

Following where the cane had been taken, he takes out a collapsible weapon from his pocket, to ward away any attacks that came his way. As he treads through the underbrush, he finds that the already tall canopy opens up even higher, realizing that what he stood under were not trees, but smaller plants at the bottom of a gigantic forest. Upon coming into the clearing, he finds a massive plant, not as big as any of the ones he had seen, but twice as tall as he stood and still imposing. The plant looked absolutely viscous, its flower a gaping maw filled with sharp, smiling teeth. Wrapped in its tendrils at the bottom of its massive, thick stem, was the cane embedded into the plant mass. Wary of the unknown plant, he knew that there had to be a reason that it went for his cane, to go to that length to attract him here.

As he approached the massive plant,the head shifts towards him for a moment, tilting as it does so, before returning to its original position looking towards the sun. Waiting for a few moments, satisfied the creature wouldn't go for him, Roido went for the cane. As he pulled it out of the plant, he hears a deep rumbling come from it. He looks up to see the gaping jaws, slimy and dripping with viscous, green fluid that was no doubt digestive juices, over his face. Panicked, Roido went to stab the cane into the beast and activate its seismic power, only for him to feel a pinprick to his neck. He suddenly felt vines bind his hands and feet, lifting him up into the air in front of the massive plant, as he struggled to remain conscious. As he looked to his attackers, he notices their massive bug eyes, and bulbous green bodies, easily a head or two taller than him.

When he next awakes, he finds himself not in the stomach of the plant, but rather in a vat of green liquid. He finds himself stripped of his gear, lined with wires all over his body, and floating with a breathing apparatus shoved down his throat through his mouth. He could also see his captors, distorted as they were through the liquid and the glass tube they held him in, he saw what he thought was red, compound eyes, was actually goggles. Their green, bulbous figure was, in fact, a heavy green coat and what appeared to be survival packs full of equipment and scientific tools that he could only guess the need for. Suddenly he sees one of his captors hold up an item, a knife, and they plunge it into the glass, slicing the container open like nothing. Spilling out onto the floor of what he assumed was their spaceship, he finds that he is wet and cold as warm air blows over him. One of them reaches down and yanks the breathing apparatus from his mouth, though it doesn't hurt as much as he expected it to.

"We apologize, great weapon smith," the same one that just removed the tube, states, "Had my people consulted me first, I would have kept them from causing you this discomfort." The man, a Plantasian Roido vaguely recognizes, hands him his things and shoos the others out of the room, as Roido puts his things back on. "My name is Thlaspi, and you were the one who equipped our planet's savior with his weapon, a great spear!" the Platasian states, "I noticed the craft of your weapon, and knew immediately the mistake my people had made in subduing you for interrupting our great work." Roido looks at the Plantasian confused, before he notices the variety of biological data that appeared to be taken off of his vital signs.

"You are bioengineers, aren't you?" Roido states, noting the various things they monitored him for went as far as the cellular level and genetic makeup, "Your people suffered a parasitic fungal infection based off a mutated strain of the Kure Kure, that was released into your atmosphere by off world invaders- I remember now..." He looks over the data, and sees that they had even studied the energy he gave off naturally. He promptly deleted that, before turning to the Plantasian. "Were you attempting to crossbreed you next generation with the Luckberry, perhaps, to keep that same thing from happening?" he asks, the man nods in return, "I'm afraid you won't have much luck then, the plant isn't viable anywhere but here because of the planets heavy concentration of unique mineral deposits, both in the mists and the ground."

"Like the orichalcum deposits we found here?" the Plantasian states, causing Roido pause, "We meant no harm when we stumbled across it, but I noticed it had been mined, and recently at that- for a decade at the least." Roido turns to the man, who shows no emotion at all. "You are right, though, we could not crossbreed the Luckberry with our own structure, we thought to see if perhaps the soil itself would be enough to save our next generation from the disease," the man continues, sadder, "Instead all but one seed of the crop failed to germinate, the massive creature that you sought to attack was a mutation we had not foreseen, a predatory plant that reminded us of our ancient relatives- a mistake, but one we cannot undo."

"Will you kill it, then, since it isn't perfect?" Roido asks, knowing the Plantasians were fanatical about culling mutations, "Or will you see if the seed it produces could be viable as you rebuild your planet?" The Plantasian smiles, before going over to the computer and clearing all the data regarding Roido.

"There was never a mistake here, master smith, not one that Plantas will recognize, as we have managed to make sure our next batch is fertile," the man states, "The result was not what we expected, oh no, but this new strain is certainly hardy enough for what my planet has in mind for its immediate future- by utilizing these immobile plants as a defense against ground invasions, we can minimize the risk of attacks on our people in the future, ensuring a happy and safe population." The man turns back to Roido. "They will never become sentient, sadly, not without a- unique energy source our people had recently discovered; one we have not currently been able to stabilize or actualize, even at the cellular level," he continues, "Though my people did notice that exposure to you caused a reaction in the plant, today's events never happened, and the experiment at large will be considered a failure..."

"What do you want from me?" Roido asks, knowing this silence wouldn't come without cost, "What do you possibly gain by ignoring whatever you found within me?" The man merely smiles in return.

"The knowledge that I could help the savior of our people, without dooming him to dissection in the process to discover the secrets within his unique physiology, and the knowledge that my experiment lives on," he states, before going to a side door and opening it and retrieving a small child from the side room, "This is Mau, and he is what resulted from the exposure to you caused within the plant; he is the first of a new breed of Plantasian- it is because of his very existence that I must let you go and wipe any data of my work." The small child with green hair and a white-pink flower on his head looks to Roido, smiling happily and babbling away. "Take him, and leave this place," the Plantasian scientist states, "Teach him, if you are willing, and take him in as if he is your own son- do this and I will be happy to know I have not truly failed my peoples future." Roido takes the child in his arm, and slides his cane into a holder.

"I still do not understand why you must let me go, but I will take this child with me," Roido states, "Thank you, I will teach Mau all I can." As he leaves, the door closing behind him, the Plantasian scientist turns to put his hands on his computer, crying softly all the while.

"I am truly sorry, Chronos, for the burden you bear," he states, as he retrieves the deleted data that Roido erased before purging it completely, "The devils have already set their sight on your world, to seek out the one who can harness the forbidden energy; one day they will find you, and on that day, I hope Mau serves you as well as any son could." The Plantasian then turns to the empty laboratory, and begins to fall into grief.

-

Mau ends his tale, and Lala looks confused as he had trailed off after they had left the Plantasian behind. Mau takes the time to sit down on the chair and face her, softly rubbing at his eyes as he does so. "Sorry, just some... latent memories," Mau states, smiling at Lala, "Don't worry, I just need a minute to prepare myself. Lala nods in understanding, before Mau takes a deep breath, and faces Lala with a straight face. "What I am about to tell you is something that does not leave this room; I know I can trust you, because I truly believe you are from the future," he looks towards his door and assures himself that it is closed, before turning back to Lala, "Long ago, before Charmian's united under the royal family, there was supposedly a secret cult of a now dead religion, that worshipped an energy that ran throughout the entire universe which they called Tao." Lala stares at Mau as he begins to spin his tale.

"These Charmian's believed that their natural connection to the universe, the very ability to charm any member of the opposite sex, was just barely scratching the surface of their potential," Mau states, "They sought to expand their control over the very forces of the universe, to control the building blocks of the universe, fire, water, air, the land, light and darkness, and shape them to their whim; even attempting to forsake death and obtain immortality by fusing mysticism and the budding technology of the science minded world around them."

"So they tried to take over Charmia by force?" Lala asks, "They tried to, what, make everyone else like them?" Mau nods in response, which only horrifies Lala at this discovery.

"It didn't go like they planned, though," Mau states, "Though try as they might to bring the rest of their world the 'enlightenment', they had found that the very technology they created to be used by the common people, used against them, until they were all thought to be wiped out." Lala covers her mouth in horror and shock, trying not to show her anguish. "The Charmian's do not have the most peaceful of history, this is true, but the horrors of yesterday became the building blocks of civilization today," Mau states, "They may be superstitious still, a little mistrustful of the galaxy outside, but they have tried to learn from the hateful mistakes of their past and move on."

She looks at Mau, and bites her lip as she tries to phrase her next question, so as not to offend. "What about Roido?" Lala asks, "What kind of 'power' does he have, that he must hide it from his own family?" Mau hesitates to answer, but knows that he must tell her.

"That really has to do with his work, in a way, as a forger of weapons," Mau states, "He can read the weapons he creates and foresee their future, up to their very destruction- a curse he uses to ensure the weapons he makes are used for the greater good." Lala looks surprised at learning the specifics of his powers so easily.

"Do you think he'll mind you telling me all this?" Lala states, "I thought he didn't want me knowing anything, because I might be related to whatever 'demon' has been attacking your people." Suddenly the door makes a bang, and both Mau and Lala turn to see a calm looking Roido contemplating over the both of them.

"Well, I guess if you want to know about my power so badly, I'll just show you," Roido states, narrowly looking towards a sheepish Mau, "Not that my apprentice did a very good job at keeping the secret; you might as well come to my forge..." Lala stands up and follows Mau and Roido out of the room. "While most aliens coming to Charmia are redirected to my area, just a few weeks ago a ship not registered to any of my previous contacts approached our planet and settled in the far countryside," Roido states, as he shows Lala the way to his forge, "They ignored my hails, and proceeded to disembark from their ship into villages and towns, searching for something, or someone of unknown value." Opening the massive steel door, Lala feels the heat of the forge roll outwards from beyond the door and into the small house.

"Reports state he looks like a monster with a tail like yours, blackish-red and a disposition that is less than friendly," Roido states, "He hasn't hurt people, or has he responded to anyone who approaches him, not even my sister the ambassador; he seems to show no interest in destruction of property or wanton violence, though my family and their people are afraid that once he finds whatever he seeks, we may become his target." He puts on a mask and heavy apron, donning special gloves and metal tools. Mau then directs her to a small side room, which he directs her into, a window still showing the forge and its weapon smith.

"Precautionary measures," Mau states, "The window is made of brown dwarf matter, able to withstand the necessary heat the forge puts out to forge the orichalcum into whatever vessel it needs to be." Lala watches as Roido opens the massive forge, and removes the beginnings of a blade and its hilt, and watches as he dumps the two items into an unlabeled vat, before closing the forge doors and sealing the vat up. He then waves for them to get up, and to come closer. Lala complies and watches as he removes the seal, and then reaches in with his gloved hand to remove the blade, and then the hilt.

"That right there is dark matter, hardest stuff to come by in condensed form like that, but it does the trick," Mau states, "Orichalcum is so difficult to cool down with the temperatures needed to forge it, that powdered dark matter is needed to cool the sword down to a point where it can be handled to start the process to assemble and finish off the sword." They both watch as Roido removes his glove, and is able to remove a crystalline coating from the darkened metal. "The dark matter has a deep unique effect, too," Mau states, "Sometimes it warps the color of the finished project into a pure black, some kind of energy transfer causes the discoloration to occur.  
Lala watches transfixed, as he wraps both pieces together in a simple cloth, and brings them into the room where Lala and Mau are watching. "Now, I will return to my study to complete the finish and the decoration," Roido states, as he holds the two pieces of the sword in his hand, "Would you like to see how I read the future of my weapons?" Lala nods, and Roido smiles. "Take the sword pieces in your hands, they need to interact with someone else's energy for me to read it," he says, as he gently puts the still warm blade into the Devilukean girl's hands, "Now, hold them tightly while I prepare myself to read them...". He puts his hands on the opposite side of Lala's own placement, before closing his eyes and focusing. Lala watches as he then opens his eyes, before she is blinded by a bright, rainbow of light.

\- _Roido's Vision_ -

"Stop, please, stop yourself from feeding the Ninth Blade anymore!" a distorted voice says, as the blood red and black blade is leveled to the mysterious persons face, "Holy Soldier of Deviluke, this violence is not your way!" The scared face of Mau looks toward the wielded of the blade, "You have slain my master, leveled his village, destroyed the Charmean Kingdom, and all but ensured the extinction of my friends and family!" Blood drips from a slash above his eyes, before the blade goes to plunge into the Plantasian's chest. A shot rings out, and Roido's vision blacks out. The last thing Roido recognizes is that the surrounding area was the misty jungle of Mistletoe.

When he sees again, he finds the same blade being wielded by a young looking woman. It's swinging, rings clear in the air, as it chants for blood, and more blood, to quench its thirst. Then he sees another figure in the distance, whose hair is a flaming orange, the vibrancy of which rivals the sun. The determination on his face speaks volumes, as he distracts the bloodthirsty sword and its wielder, before a girl with blood-red hair that moves like it has a will of its own, is thrust into both their skulls. He looks around, to see what else is going on in his vision, and is shocked to see the girl, Lala, standing next to others who can only watch this battle in horror. He sees a girl, naked on the battlefield, her pink hair the same as Lala's, while another girl with pink hair also watches in the distance. He watches all of them in anticipation, until he hears the sword ringing in his ears again.

Turning around, he sees the sword alive reaching out toward the the child that was the distraction, before- Wham! He watches as an impossible feat occurs as a blonde haired child physically changes her body into a weapon, and feels the sword shatter into pieces with one blow. But he watches and listens-

He hears the sword still singing in his ears, chanting for more blood, more energy, before it dies off. He turns to see the red headed child-

But it is not a child he sees swinging the sword this time, and once again he realizes his vision has changed to show a different place, a different planet. The landscape is grey and dead, buildings are crumbling all around, and the streets are void of life, no animal, plant, or person is seen. And as he turns towards the sun, he sees only the shadow of a massive throne, built upon the skulls of the dead. Upon the throne sat a knight, not unlike the one he saw in the beginning of his vision, though this one is much younger, though he too has the sword in hand. Next to him, sitting on a smaller throne of bones, a pink haired woman in a revealing outfit has her face covered, though she wears a tiara signifying she is his queen. His face, likewise, is covered, though the demon knight is obviously a king, for he wears a crown atop his plated head. The eyes of the facemask glow a deep, crimson-red which seems to stare into Roido's very soul and pierce him with terror.

The man in armor stands, a spade tipped tail at his back, moving very much like Lala's. It curls up, as he descends his throne to stand almost directly in front of Roido. "Tell me Father," the knight says, "Do you enjoy seeing the future?" Roido know feels deep terror, as he realizes the man is in fact talking to him, though he should not be seen. "You were my first, Father, I have held within me the very energy that birthed me, the energy I absorbed upon your death," the blood-knight says, "The Ninth Blade, upon which you will write the numerals IX, I will strike fear into the hearts of billions, and feast upon the blood of all, and it must occur." Suddenly the left hand, which was free of the blade, lifts up and the knight looks at his palm. In a matter of seconds, Roido observes darkness being emitted from the glove, like black fire consuming his hand. "I was glad I could see you one more time, Father," the demon king states, and Roido stares into his soulless eyes, as he lifts his hand up, "Now die." With that the blackened fist plunges into Roido's heart.

-

 _ **Do you see now?**_

 **The Truth of the Ninth Blade of Chronos, the master Weapons Smith?**

 **Do you see why your fight is hopeless?**

 **You will become my vassal.**

 **The Blade engraved with the numbers IX**

 **The IX Blade**

 _ **BLADIX**_

 **You are mine, Rito Yuuki**

 **There is no Hope.**

 **There is only Bladix...**

And Rito Yuuki wakes to a white void, staring at the one-eyed figure of death.

"..." he whispers.

The spectral avatar of the sentient parasite moves closer.

" **What, boy?** " it asks.

"..-o" Rito whispers.

" **Speak up!** " Bladix replies, " _ **Let me hear your final words, as I consume your soul!**_ "

Rito opens his eyes, and stares back into Bladix's singular, massive eye.

" _ **NO!**_ " Rito shouts, as he raises his left hand, and finds it consumed by living shadows.

And then Bladix is no more.

 _ **End Interlude: A Brief History of Lala, Pt.2**_


	13. Tiring Discoveries

_Disclaimer: Own To Love Ru, I do not, hmm, hmm. Better ending, it would have otherwise, yes?_  
 _Extra special double update in one day! This chapter just wrote itself, after all!_

When Rito woke up, he knew something was wrong. First of all, he was all but naked while suspended in what he hoped was only water, and he felt like his whole body was on fire. The fact that the majority of the pain was coming from his left hand concerned him, with the dream he had and all, but he felt sluggish and tired all at the same time. When he- When he picked something up-

It was all a blur to Rito, he was tired, he woke up in an unfamiliar place, he barely registered that he was breathing while being suspended within a liquid vat that was closed off, and he didn't even see anyone he was familiar with outside the glass that separated him from the outside world. He went to move his hands toward the glass, and proceeded to weakly bang on them, trying to move them through the syrupy liquid to garner attention to him. Suddenly he notices familiar reddish-brown locks through the glass, and the tall figure of Mikado-sensei suddenly becomes clearer, as she looks inside the vat. Rito can't help but smile when he notices she is smiling, and he feels the liquid 'pop' and start to pull him downwards. After a few moments the liquid was all gone, save what clung to his body in uncomfortable places, and the glass opened to the fresh air.

Rito felt a warm and fluffy towel wrap around him, which he took with gratitude as he fell to his knees on the floor, laughing as he does so. "Rito-san!" the voice of Oshizu states with relief as she helps him to his feet, "Mikado-sensei, should he be out of the regenerator?" Rito stops listening, as he feels himself being pushed onto a bed, and tucked under covers. He doesn't resist when the lights dim, and the indistinct voices speak in hushed murmurs. Perhaps the damage to Rito caused by- was too much for him to handle. He still felt tired, even though he's quite sure he's slept for days. The spurt of energy he had, has left him, and he feels like his own bones are made of steel and rock, and they just sink into the soft bed, the fluffy pillow, and the warm, tender, blissful sleep-

When he opens his eyes next, he almost isn't sure if he is still dreaming or not. He feels stiff, like his body weighs a ton, but as he shifts to take a look at his body, he sees why it feels so heavy. At each of his sides lay Lala, Mikan, and even Celine on top of him. It seems after he awoke, Shinzu and Mikado-sensei had alerted them to the fact he was awake. He also looked at the far wall to see Nana slumped against the crook of Momo's neck, while Rin oddly enough sat with her eyes closed, looking more like she was meditating as her hands rested on the hilt of her wooden sword, which was propped up in front of her feet, blade to the ground. Rito laughed, slightly and softly, at the sight of all these people here for him. He hoped they hadn't been waiting long, but he very much doubted he had slept more than a day since he awoke in the vat.

Celine opened up her sleepy eyes first, before looking at Rito and finding he was awake. "Mau!" she exclaimed joyfully, "Mau, mau! Mau!" At that outburst of chatter, Mikan slowly woke up on Rito's left, while Momo rubbed her eyes and moved, which caused Nana to tumble to the floor and have a rough awakening. Rin merely opened her eyes, with very little change, causing Rito to wonder if she merely had awoken earlier and was truly meditating. Lala was bright eyed as she awoke, to see Rito surrounded by his happy friends and family.

" _Rito!_ " she exclaimed, practically jumping onto the bed and smashing her face into his shoulders, "You're awake- I was- I was so scared what would happen to you!" She begins to blubber as she tries to speak, the crying getting in the way of her communicating to him. Momo chose this time to speak up.

"What Nee-san is trying to say, is that we were all worried when you picked up Bladix," Momo says, wrapping her arm around her blubbering older sister, "When you picked up the sword, there was a violent reaction focused around you, and it caused you- it caused massive damage to your left hand, the one you used to pick the sword up with." Momo grabs his hand gently and curls it into a fist. "Most of the left half of your body was- sustained, massive burns, but your fingers-" Momo chokes out a sob, before trying to finish what she was saying, "Rito, the tips of your fingers were burned off, you shouldn't- you should not be alive right now-" Rito processes those words, before looking at his hands, his fingers, and seeing that there is nothing physically wrong with them, besides phantom pains he seems to feel.

"How- these _are_ my hands, all five of my fingers are here, and I don't _feel_ like I was burned," Rito states in reply, shock obviously affecting him already to the view of the others in the room, "If I was hurt that badly, how am I here right now, talking to all of you?" It was Mikan's turn to speak.

"You've been asleep for twenty days, Rito, they barely managed to get you to Mikado-sensei and into that regeneration tank, before anything too irreversible could be done to stabilize you before you bled out, or worse," she chokes out, crying hot tears, " _Onii-chan_ , about five days in Mikado-sensei called to tell us she found something unusual going on in your body at the cellular level... something was exciting your cells into focusing solely into healing your body." She chokes out a sob and climbs deeper into her brothers lap. "You were so bad looking those first few days, we didn't even let Mom or Dad see you like that, Celine was crying nonstop because she knew you were hurt, so badly!" she grasps him tightly, like she doesn't want to let him go to find out this was all a dream, "By the time ten days had passed, your fingers were raw, but starting to reform, and most of the scar tissue below your stomach and waist was healed, like it had never existed at all..."

Rito clenches his hand, as he hears Mikan recount what had happened. "It- it finally came time about three days ago, that you were physically healthy, more so than you had even been at your last physical," Nana states, as she lets Mikan rest in his lap, "They tested your new muscles, your lungs, your heart- everything was in better condition than ever before, stronger than a normal human should possibly be able to recuperate to, let alone maintain naturally." Rito is a little shocked at that, but he lets her continue. "Not only were your new muscles stronger, but it seems whatever it was that Azenda left the sword to do, it strengthened your unaffected areas as well, you are currently one of the most perfect specimens of the human race, alive on your planet," Nana continues, "And then we figured out why your cells were so excited, why you were able to heal from these normally life threatening injuries; that was when we called Nemesis-chan in."

Suddenly, as if appearing from thin air, Nemesis is in his face and on his bed, clothed in her Yukata, and pining his arms and legs down. The others are slightly surprised and pull away, but Nemesis merely smiles before disappearing and reappearing at the foot of his bed, slouching on it. "You've changed, Yuuki Rito," she says in her sultry voice, "Or should I specify, you've _been_ changed, into something new, something unknown..." Rito doesn't know quite what to make of that. Nemesis merely frowns, before standing and walking up to the opposite shoulder of the one that Lala was crying on. She grabs his hand, and places both his and hers palms down over his heart. "Do you feel that, Yuuki Rito?" she asks him, "Your heart still beats like a human, maybe just a little bit faster, but not much, do you feel your breathing, your blood pumping through your veins and arteries?" Nemesis grabs both hands, before taking them and placing them over his ears. "Do you hear the blood rushing through your skull, to the thrum of the universe?" She asks, which causes Rito to pause at her words, "No- maybe not yet, but you will- as you begin to hunger..."

The others try and make sense of her words, yet Lala and Momo both seemed unsurprised at them. "What do you mean, ' _I will hunger for the universe_ '?" he asks the living weapon, "I don't understand, what have I _become_?" Lala grips a little tighter into his shoulder, and he looks down to see she is trying to hold back tears.

"You, Yuuki Rito, have become a living weapon," Momo states clearly, "We think because you took Nemesis inside yourself, that when she trans-fused with you, something about your genetic structure changed within you, laying dormant until some trigger would activate it." He looks to Nemesis, then around the room as everyone just sits in silence at this revelation. "The nanites, _Bladix_ , they each did something to you in their own way; we think that something happened to you when we last fought Bladix," Momo states, "Mea-chan, her 'Psycho Dive' is a trans-ability unique to her, we think when you fought Bladix and dove into Rin's subconscious, when you broke her free, we think a piece of Bladix was transferred into your psyche, when he tried to jack Mea." Rito thinks back, to the accident, to the voice he had heard in his dreams, but it almost hurt too much to think.

"We think that somehow, even though Bladix's main conscious was destroyed by Yami-chan, that that fragment of Bladix's psyche dove deep into your subconscious, where it locked itself away," Momo states, "When Azenda attacked, she somehow knew that a fragment of Bladix survived, she expected it to be in Rin, but when she couldn't find it, and when Yami attacked her and she lost both the sword and the Peark of the Taoist, we think the Bladix within your subconscious tried to reunite with the sword." Momo rings her hands into the bed as she continues speaking. "The nanites were still programmed to extract Bladix from his host body, but we think something in the nanites reacted badly with your dormant trans-genes," Momo states, "We think that the Tao energy excited them too much, that it caused your body to try and absorb the energy from the nanites that became a part of the blade." Rito nods, trying to understand what she was saying.

"They, the nanites, were designed to run on Tao energy, which is thought to be the most ancient, purest form of energy in the known universe, energy your newly activated Trans-genes needed to assist transition into their new form," she states, "But they also were programmed to go into your mind, literally your cerebral cortex, and extract the latent 'soul' of Bladix from you; they fed into your bodies craving to the point you literally held too much energy in your cells, that was what caused your Trans-ability to flare up in the form of explosive Dark Matter, which in turn caused the accident that hospitalized you." He feels Lala squeeze his hand, which causes him to smile, and tear up a bit, knowing he had such loyal and understanding friends with him.

"Thank you everyone, for being here, for telling me what is happening- what has happened to me," he states, before pulling his hands away from the others, and looking at his hands, "I-I need time to think- about this, about everything that has happened- can you all let me get some rest, and you guys can talk to me later?" Momo, Nana, Mikan, Celine, and Rin all smile, and they pull away from Rito, leaving Lala and Nemesis alone with him, as they walk outside the door, leaving the three alone. Now alone, he looks to Lala and to Nemesis, before focusing on the living weapon. "Nemesis, do you know what the situation with Black and Yami- Golden Darkness, is like?" he asks, "I hope Black was able to get some help in time..." The living weapon nods in response.

"Black-chan is doing fine, he- had a bit of his own issues regarding the nanites attacking his body, but Yami-chan was able to undo that with little effort in her Darkness form," she states, "He's, well to be honest he's quite the looker now, but then again he seems to be physically about three to four years younger than he was when the Nanites infested him, but there was nothing she could do about that." The living weapon drools just a little bit, lost in a daydream of her own making. "Not that I'm jealous of her or anything, since she can tap that sweet, sweet-" she stops when she sees both Lala and Rito glowering at her, " _A-ahem_ , yes well...I think I'll leave you two alone now..." The living weapon walks out the door, unlike her usual affair of disappearing like a cheshire cat, but she knows better than not to leave these two alone.

It was then that Rito grabs Lala's hands, and pulls her up into a hug. Lala merely takes it for what it is worth, her tears now spent, and her nose merely sniffling as she tries to calm herself down. He gently pushes her away, and levels his eyes with her, smiling as he does so. "I'm so happy to know you are safe, Rito," she finally says, "I've been so worried, about you, about the others-" She stops when she finds herself being pulled towards him, and she squeaks in surprise when his lips latch onto her hers. She melts into the surprise kiss, but feels him pull away from her, and becomes slightly disappointed at the brief interaction. "Rito?" she asks. He merely smiles at her and sighs wistfully.

"When were you going to tell me?" he asks gently, to Lala's puzzlement, "About the letter your father sent, about requesting me to break off any romantic relationships I had with other girls, with you having to choose either to marry me or pick another candidate, or even fight to the death and/or face exile..." Lala looks like a deer caught in headlights, at Rito's calmness. "Lala... I'm not angry you hid this from me, I understand, truly," Rito states, trying to calm her before she flies into a panic, "But I didn't want you to burden yourself with this alone..." Lala merely whimpers, before breaking into a fresh new set of tears, once again crying into Rito's shoulder.

"I-I-I didn't," she starts to babble out, before taking a deep breath, "I d-didn't want you to feel pressured, o-or for you to make the wrong decision." She rumples her hands into Rito's bed,which he feels digging into his thigh. "You love- you are Haruna's boyfriend, after all," Lala murmurs into his shoulder, "I've learned how much emphasis you put on first loves, how special they are- I didn't want you to give that up for me, even if it meant marrying another suitor.." Lala is shocked when she feels Rito grip her tightly by the shoulders and face her to him.

"Lala, I've learned that first loves are special, I've learned that everyone loves differently, if the past three years of my obliviousness has shown me, I should have noticed obvious signs, but I shrugged them off because of my own insecurities and faults, and my lack of experience," he states, "I've spent the last six to seven months, moping over a girlfriend, who I never even knew moved away, I was never even told by her that she was moving, if that makes you feel any better." At that confession, Lala looks puzzled at Rito.

"But Rito, didn't she tell you?" Lala asks, "She told almost everyone else on her last day that she was moving to Shurufuku over the first weekend of school, we had a party and everything the day before-" But then Lala squishes her face in concentration, as she remembers something. "Oh, that's right, weren't you camping out with Zastin a lot over that summer?" she states, "We must have forgotten to pass on the message that Haruna had moved, somehow, in the confusion of the beginning of the new year; she even gave us her new phone number and address, since she had lost her phone at the beach...I think Momo was supposed to let you know?" At that, Rito's heart goes cold. Then his anger begins to boil, and Lala pulls back in shock, feeling him heat up.

It seemed Yuuki Rito was literally hot headed, as his orange hair began to show dark wisps and float around as if there was a breeze. "Where is Momo?" he asks through clenched teeth, "Lala, I need to speak with your younger sister, _**please**_..." Lala nods, but she stops and grabs his hand. She leans down and kisses him on the cheek, with an audible pop at the smack. Suddenly confused, his anger abated, he looks up at a smiling Lala.

"You needed to _cool down_ ," she states cheekily, "You're still not in your right frame of mind, no matter what Momo may have done." Rito sighs and takes a calming breath. "There, you see," Lala states, "You need to get control of yourself right now Rito, then we can both face what we must to go forward, together!" Rito sighs, smiling wistfully as he realizes his girlfriend is just too good for him. He smiles and looks at Lala happily.

"Very well, I deal with Momo later," he states with a positive attitude, "How about this instead- if Rin-chan is still out there, can you have her come in, instead?" Lala nods, before leaving for real. After a few moments, Rin has stepped inside, facing a smiling Rito with one of her own.

"I owe you my life again, Yuuki Rito," she says, "Twice you have saved me from Bladix, twice you have shown me your worth as a man; you are no longer that perverted teenager that roamed the school halls, groping student and teacher alike by sheer clumsiness." Rito laughs at that, and invites Rin to sit in a closer seat than where she stands.

"I wouldn't say I've changed that much, but that doesn't mean I haven't tried to put more effort," he states, laughing, "But I have a serious request of you Rin-san." Rin nods, and become serious.

"If this pertains to the matter you wished to discuss after the auction, then I am all ears," she states, "I think Saki-sama will understand any request you make to me on her behalf-" Rito laughs again at this, to Rin's confusion.

"Quite the opposite of what I had in mind, no this is a personal matter regarding my engagement to Lala?" she nods as he speaks, "Rin, it's come to my attention that, while I'm sure the feeling is mutual, you have been considered a potential love interest of mine by -other- parties, and I wish ask for you to hear me out." She nods, giving him her attention fully. "Due to legal matters surrounding Devilukean politics, I have been required to break off any romantic relationships, real or imagined, and ask you to testify you reject any feelings for me romantically, if asked of you to appear before the King of Deviluke," he states, "This is a strange request, I am sure, but the other option is for you to reject my rejection and when asked, fight Lala either to the death or to accept exile from all Deviluke territory in the entirety of the Milky Way galaxy; and I please beg of you to accept my rejection." Rin nods, as Rito finishes speaking. She then promptly covers her mouth with her sleeve in a bad attempt to hide her laughter.

"I thank you than you have informed me of your legal obligations, and I assure you while I am flattered I could be considered one of your prospective wives, I have no intention of ever showing affection in that regard towards you, Rito-kun," she states with a smile, "If I am asked, I, as well as Saki and Aya, would surely provide our own testimonials to our lack of romantic love for you, Yuuki Rito, as well as assuring we wish you and Lala all the love in the universe." Rito smiles at that, and chuckles along with the normally fierce girl.

"Thank you Rin, I'm glad to hear that," he states, "Now, I am very tired, and I thank you for your concern regarding my well being; tell Saki I hope her auction went well despite the end, and you all have a nice rest now!" Rin nods, before leaving the room after saying her goodbyes. Rito Yuuki merely snuggles down deeper into his bed, yawning. Passing out into the land of dreams, Rito Yuuki hoped this would be the last discovery he would make about himself today.

Finding out he was a living weapon now, was a really tiring discovery, after all.


	14. Back in Black

_Disclaimer: Notith own I To Love Ru, erstwhile it wouldith had a betterith endingith._  
 _Fair warning, some pretty graphic description ahead._

It took Rito a week before he could return home, and in that time he had many of his other friends come in and check on his progress. Saki, of course, stopped by with Rin and Aya checking to see how Rito had fared, and to let him know that repairs on her house from the spaceship being crashed into it were being taken care of thanks to the help from Galactic Police. She also informed him that the Taoist's Pearl was being escorted to Deviluke by 'Zastin-sama', with a little bit of swooning at his name, now that Princess Lala of Deviluke was the rightful owner of the dangerous item. He was happy to know Zastin was personally delivering the item to the vaults of Deviluke, where he hoped it would stay locked up forever.

Speaking of which, Rito now had his own problem to deal with. On his second day awake, Lala had informed him that the sword, the empty husk of what once was Bladix, was currently being stored within her care. She had tested the sword with every device she could think of, some specially ordered from off world, some medical technology borrowed from Mikado-sensei, and found the same thing over and over again. The nanites were gone, whatever power within them seemed to have either gone dormant without the pearl nearby or they had completed their task in the restoration of the sword. The blade itself was in perfect order, despite the uncontrollable reaction it had with the energy feedback loop.

Rito now stood in front of the door to the three sister's shared rooftop room, and hesitated to go inside. Whatever reaction he had with the sword, he had been told by Lala that it was impossible to replicate since the source of the nanites energy had been depleted, therefore Rito would not be able to absorb it and overload his cells and risk activating his power. That wasn't the part that concerned Rito, no it was the very fact that Bladix had been within him, and it was that that scared him. Who was to say Bladix wasn't still locked up within his psyche, just waiting to take over him when his guard was down. That gave him pause, because he knew that even one slip up could result in his life being taken over by a parasitic demon sword.

Just as he was about to enter, Momo walked out, and the door caught him in the face. Clutching his throbbing nose, he cried out in pain and confusion at the sudden feeling of the door meeting his face. "Rito!" Momo cries out, noticing that she just hit him in the face, rushes over to him and tries to see if he is all right, "What were you doing just standing outside our room?" Rito holds up his finger, which causes Momo to step back in confusion. Rito, through tears, straightens himself up and wipes a way the little bit of blood that had leaked from his nose at the impact, and gives Momo a pitiful attempt at a smile.

"I'm all right!" he says unconvincingly, "Just got caught up in the moment, Lala's expecting me!" Momo seems to freeze, just for a moment, at that. "Thank you for your concern, Momo, but I can manage," Rito states, before walking in to the Deviluke girl's room, "See you later Momo!" Rito brushes her off like nothing, and Momo is left standing there. He didn't see it, but her face fell at the casual rejection, and she didn't know why it hurt so much.

It hurt so much to see her acting so cheerful. It had been a week since he had seen or talked much to Momo, and he knew it was a bit spiteful on his part to brush her off like that. He- He almost could justify his reasoning, that he was mad at Momo for not telling him the truth, but the fault didn't lie solely on her shoulders. It was true the others didn't know he wasn't told about Haruna's moving, but it seemed he wasn't the only one who wasn't aware why she had moved. Nana and Mikan hadn't known she had moved either, but then again Haruna was really only friends with Lala and Shizu, beyond the ones she had in school. Lala being ditzy he could excuse, she had enough excitement in her life that probably made days blur together, if it wasn't an invention, it was some crazy plot to get her to marry one of her many ex-suitors. Momo though-

If he hadn't been confessed to by Momo, Rito never would have known she felt that way towards him, as he had taken all of her perverted actions as mere misunderstandings at the time. Now, he knew better, and it was making it increasingly awkward to have to deal with, especially since he now knew that she had been serious about the 'Harem Plan'. Perhaps she was serious about her intentions about making everyone happy, maybe at first, but since the confession, things had escalated. Momo tried to sleep in his bed every night, which in retrospect was probably why Nana suggested to Lala the necessity of the genetic lock on his private Cyber Hangout. It was to keep Momo out, and Rito, perhaps unintentionally, safe from her clinging tendencies. Maybe he was just fooling himself, though, since he knew that even younger sisters got jealous of their older siblings falling in love; if Mikan was anything to go by. He would have to deal with her, and soon, but for now he would focus on finding Yami-chan and Haruna, and dealing with them first.

Walking into Lala's room, knocking, he finds her already hard at work creating some new invention. "Ah, Rito!" she says, stopping her welding and removing her goggles, "Have you finally decided to give the sword a try?" Lala was the first to try and convince him to wield the blade, to see if Bladix still existed in some way within Rito, if not just a way to satisfy her intellectual curiosity. Rito nods, and Lala claps her hands together in joy. "Wonderful, I'll go get the sword!" she states, before walking over to her closet and digging inside of it, "When Zastin finally revealed you had been training with him over the summer, I started to wonder whether or not Azenda leaving Bladix behind, was just a coincidence..." She comes back with what is obviously Bladix, covered by thick bandages to prevent contact with human skin. "I used gloves to wrap the sword, just in case the nanites were still active, and this wrapping is made of a specially lined cellulose made on Plantas," she states, handing the blade to Rito, "The wrapping suppresses Tao energy, and a few other high forms of energy, like lead lining protects from certain forms of radiation."

Rito begins to unravel the sword, until only the hilt is still covered by the majority of the wrapping. "Thank you, Lala," Rito states with a smile, "It seems you thought of everything regarding the sword." Rito hesitates to finish unwrapping it, but Lala suddenly puts her hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Rito, if anything goes wrong, I can protect myself," she states, with a knowing smile, "I'm a big girl, after all!" Rito softly smiles at Lala's assurance, and then he makes his decision. Setting the blade across a flat surface, he fully unwraps the swords hilt, without touching the sword. Steeling himself, he reaches for the blade and grasps the handle.

 _Elsewhere, aboard the Lunatique_

"You know, I'm about to go berserk if your computer doesn't give me what I'm asking for!" the former assassin Kuro, alias Black, states to his current roommate slash friend and former assassin, Eve, alias Golden Darkness, alias Yami, "If it doesn't give me my milk back, I swear I am going to trace its circuits to its faulty logic processors, and 'fix' them!" Yami hides a slight smirk behind her hand, as she watches Kuro cutely argue with her ship, as his face was pressed against the holographic representation of her ships onboard A.I. The Lunatique was giving him the stink eye in return, its 'mouth' in a grimace as it stared down the pissed off former assassin that was not its master.

"The milk was spoiled, Mistress, I would not allow you to harm your delicate digestive tract with rotten lactate byproduct, taken from a simple mammal's mammary excretions!" the scary faced A.I. tries to argue back, "Besides, my programming prevents me from allowing any harm coming to my Mistress, or those she designates as her allies, and that includes you, Kuro-san!" The former assassin merely growls in response, until he hears Yami laugh. Turning on her, he merely points in her general direction before he begins to rant.

"Maybe if you allowed me to go down there and pick up some fresh milk, I wouldn't be having this conversation with your damnable A.I., who acts like the Milk expired two weeks ago and was already curdling," he states with an indignant huff, "When it just expired yesterday, and was still drinkable this morning!" Yami merely smiles and brings her cup of tea to her lips, satisfied with the complex flavor. She knew he was merely itching to get outside, after being cooped up inside this ship after nearly a month of recuperation and regeneration. It didn't help they didn't know who Azenda was working for, or with, and she had decided it was safer for the two of them to remain moving on the Lunatique. It was touch and go after he was shot, and Yami had been the only one to make supply runs, since they both had recuperated just enough of their individual strengths to go, and in Kuro's case to be left, alone.

 _(Before)_

 _Moments after Yami Left the Auction_

"Mikado-sensei!" Yami, still in her Darkness form, calls out, "Mikado-sensei, Kuro- Black, has been hurt real bad, and is in need of medical attention or else he'll bleed out!" Ryouko Mikado merely looks on in surprise at finding the two former assassin's, one being injured, on her doorstep this late in the evening. Still dressed in her night gown, she helped Darkness shoulder Kuro's weight, and took her down to her medical lab.

After placing him in a regeneration unit, after stabilizing his vitals and blood loss, Mikado quickly found she was having to excuse herself after hearing the doorbell to her house ringing again. Yami had finally moved back into her regular form, slightly out of exhaustion at expending her energy, slightly out of the fact the adrenaline was starting to pass out of her system. She stared at Kuro, as he fidgeted in the regeneration unit while he was unconscious, whatever the nanites were programmed to do, was obviously still affecting him. Yami heard rushed footsteps out in the hallway, before observing the voices of a panicked Mikan, Lala, and others joining in. "Yami-chan!" Mikado states, appearing in the room, "I know you're worried about Black, but I need your help in dealing with something of urgent need regarding Rito Yuuki; I don't want Lala or Mikan involved, since Shinzu isn't here..."

Yami does all she can, not to rush out of the room, once she hears that something has happened to Rito. She sees Lala and Mikan both being held back by Rin and Nana, Momo holding a crying Celine in the back, tightly into her chest to try and comfort the child. Yami knows to brace herself, but when she walks into that room, she is shocked to see what has transpired. The stench of burning clothes and the sickening smell of cooked meat and blood, was nothing she wasn't too unfamiliar with in her line of work, but to see the brother of one of her friends, to see her target- no, to see her **_FRIEND_** Yuuki Rito in the state he was in...

She knew she was in shock, but she quickly filed that away for later, knowing Mikado-sensei needed her head and heart clear of any emotions and focused on the task at hand. At Mikado's direction, she transformed her hair into multiple instruments she then used to cut away at Rito's clothing, and peel them away from his burnt skin. She was thankful the damage seemed to be minimal to his right side, but the left was extensive, to the point she honestly doubted Rito would survive long enough to get treatment. She honestly wondered how he got hurt the way he did, considering when she left, all of Azenda's tricks had been taken with her, beyond Bladix, who she hadn't found on Azenda's person-

That was when she thought back to the nanites, and what Azenda had ordered them to do to her own nano machines. It was then that Yami realized just how dangerous an item the Taoist's Pearl could be, if it was used to set a booby trap ahead of time, within Bladix's empty shell. She couldn't think about that, though, as she helped Mikado-sensei dress his wounds, and apply healing balm and lotions to the scars that covered almost all of the area below his legs, before gently applying bandages. She figured out that the only place that wasn't damaged beyond repair, was perhaps Rito's face, which only had slight burns on his cheek, though she had to shave off a patch of his hair, to make sure the burns didn't go above his scalp. Satisfied that all was done with what they had at hand, Rito's left hand encased in a metal device to encourage healing of the muscles that were left, and to keep his hand whole and sterile as possible so as not to encourage infection, there was little left to do. Mikado had her place the young man into an identical regenerator to the one Kuro was in, before filling it up and making sure Rito was stable, and then making the viewing glass opaque so as to hide him from those who would view him form the outside of his tank.

"Thank you, Yami-chan!" Ryoudo Mikado states sincerely, "I know that must have been difficult to see, especially with what just happened this evening-" Yami doesn't know what to say, but she finds herself following her instinct on this. "Please, don't tell the others about Rito's condition, I don't want-" she stops, as Yami wraps her hands around the doctor's waist and begins crying into the lab coat she had tossed on over her nightgown, before she puts her hand on Yami's shoulders, "I know- I know it hurts, but crying helps, Eve, so don't hold it in..." Yami would find out later she had somehow cried herself to sleep in her grief, after waking up to find Mikan slumped into her shoulder, while both women were placed onto a long bench and were sat next to each other in Rito's room.

Noticing Rito's condition hadn't changed since they had put him in the regeneration unit, she gently manages to lay Mikan down, before moving back to Kuro's room as silently as she could. She finds Mikado standing in front of his regeneration tube, with a frown on her face as she looks over printed out notes. She absently notices Lala is in the room, sleeping in a chair, while holding what appeared to be Bladix, wrapped up so as not to expose the sword at all. "Ah, Yami-chan," Mikado states, noticing she had entered the room, "I'm glad you're here, I have some troubling news regarding Kuro-san." Yami enters the room and approaches Mikado, who puts the notes to her side, and looks to the younger girl. "I'm afraid to report that Kuro is in quite a difficult situation," she states, looking grim as she talks, "So far he is outwardly okay, but looking deeper into his body, I've found some disturbing results."

Yami can only taste bile, as she tries to swallow at that news. She didn't know what to be expecting, exactly, but with Kuro taking Azenda's surprise attack meant for her, she knew it wasn't good. Mikado merely sighs, as she levels with Yami. "It isn't good, I can tell you that much, but thankfully whatever is happening to him is progressing slowly, for now," she states, as she goes over to a wall and pulls up electronic images showing the skeletal, muscular, arterial, and nervous systems of Kuro, "These scans show that when the nanites deposited themselves into his body, they dispersed themselves to specific places." Masses appeared in each of them, dark and foreboding, and Yami felt like she could be sick. "They appear to be targeting specific nerve clusters surrounding memory, and physical movements, and they seem to be eating away slowly at his muscle mass," she reports, "Though they don't seem to be doing anything to his veins and arteries, they seem to have deposited themselves into his bones, perhaps to eat away at his marrow, or something else no doubt sinister."

Yami finds herself wanting to sit down, and then hunt down Azenda in the arctic circle, hoping she was found frozen to death, or eaten by some creature, but knowing more likely the cunning assassin had already made her getaway. "Is there anything, anything at all I could do?" Yami asks, "I know the nanites were programmed to attack me, could we somehow draw them out of his system by using my Trans abilities?" Mikado shakes her head, expressing her displeasure at that idea.

"That wouldn't be an effective solution, I'm sorry, as what damage they have already caused would still remain," she states, "He's already begun to be eaten away from the inside, extracting the nanites would be more liable to weaken him further; his bones might snap like twigs, his muscles could be damaged even more, he might even suffer brain damage if the nanites attempt to eat their way out of his nervous system!" Yami tries to still her raging heart, hot tears once again flowing because she had failed her friends- She failed Rito, and now to hear that Kuro was-

She seizes up, as she feels a pair of warm hands surround her in a gentle hug, to surprised to react to the sudden intrusion of her disquieting thoughts. "It's okay, Yami-" Lala states, burrowing her head into the living weapon's shoulders, "We'll get through this together, we will find a way to keep the nanites in Kuro from harming him any further." Yami didn't know when she stopped crying, or when Mikado sensei left the two girls alone. She didn't notice when Mikan joined them, upon hearing of Black's condition. All she knew was that Kuro and Rito were both in danger of losing their lives, that Azenda the Tyrant was responsible for it, and that she had the most kind, the most patient, and most loving pair of friends keeping her from breaking down and doing something she would have probably regretted.

 _Five Days Later_

"Yami!" Lala states, rushing in to wake the sleeping weapon from her position in Kuro's room, "Yami, come quick, Mikado-sensei, something's happening to Rito!" Yami quickly gets up, and follows Lala and Mikado to Rito's room, where the glass that was once opaque, has become clear. Yami watches as Mikado reads the information she is getting of of her medical technology, showing a mixture of surprise and disbelief as she studies the new readings.

"Lala- has anyone been in or out of Rito's room, besides me, you, or Yami?" she asks, and Lala shakes her head, "It seems- it seems somehow Rito's cells are trying to heal themselves, they are giving off a unique form of energy that I haven't ever studied in human biology before..." Lala perks up at that, curious to know just how Rito is healing himself. Yami is equally curious, because she wonders if something similar could happen to Kuro, knowing that Rito's injuries were caused by a similar incident regarding the alien nanites. "I think I know why Ritois healing himself," Mikado states after a few minutes of contemplation, "Lala, I think you need to get Nemesis down here right away, I need her opinion on my hypothesis, before I am sure..." Yam deflates a little at that, knowing that if Nemesis was involved in somehow healing Rito, it had nothing to do with helping Kuro. "Yami, wait!" Mikado calls out, as Yami turns to leave, "I think if this is what I think it is, we can apply something similar to help Kuro, but we need Nemesis' opinion before we try it out!" Yami whirls on the alien doctor, the first spark of hope in her eyes she has had for days.

When Nemesis and Lala had returned, it took all of five seconds before the living weapon of dark matter came to her own conclusion. "Rito has become a living weapon," Nemesis says, a smile drawn out on her face, "How interesting, it seems I affected him more than should be possible!" Yami doesn't know what to say, and both Mikado and Lala seem puzzled at Nemesis' response. "You said something happened regarding Bladix's resurrection, and Taoist nanites?" she asks, "Show me the blade, I think I may have a clue as to why he was so affected..." Lala grabs the blade, which had been semi-hidden from view behind a chair. Nemesis gladly takes the weapon, and unwraps it from the bindings Lala had secured it in. "How interesting, this is what I thought he was," Nemesis states, eyes gleaming like she had jsut taken candy from a baby, "The fabled Ninth Sword, forged by the ancient weapon smith Chronos, from the days when the earlier Galactic War's had not yet consumed the entire universe..." She swings the weapon, before wrapping the bindings securely around it once more.

She then turns to Golden Darkness, and studies her from side to side. "What are you doing?" Yami asks, "Why are you staring at me?" Nemesis merely smiles in response, before poking her in the chest.

"You stink of Tao energy still, I'm assuming you must have a pearl on your person still," she states simply, "If the nanites that caused Bladix to be re-forged, run off of [I]that[I] energy, it was no wonder that when he came into contact with the sword, that he exploded!" Yami doesn't know what to say, before she retrieves the pearl from a wormhole, holding it up for Nemesis to inspect, but not touch. "Yes, that would do it; you exposed him to the purest form of energized Dark Matter, but didn't expect him to react like that," she mutters to herself, more than anything, "You didn't realize that by becoming my host, healing inside him changed his D.N.A. just the slightest bit enough, that when his cells tried to process the new stimulation after being aggravated by the nanites invading him at a cellular level, they naturally tried to defend themselves by activating their auto-immune defenses..." Nemesis snapped her fingers, and a cloud of energized dark matter appeared above her hands, before she closed it into a fist. "It seems Rito's body reacted by trying to convert the Tao energy into something he could use to defend himself at the cellular level," Nemesis states, before moving in front of Rito's window and smiling, "What it resulted in was something likeable to throwing kerosene onto a fire, it made a big explosion and light show, that resulted in the extensive damage you see here; I give him another twelve days before he's fully healed."

Nemesis turns around and faces Yami with a smirk. "Since we know what's got Rito so worked up," she states, as she saunters up to Golden Darkness, "Now let's see what we can do to help fix your boy toy, too!" Yami resists the urge to slap the smaller weapon, but Nemesis seems to sense her anger, and backs off, surprised. "I didn't think I'd hit a nerve, that badly," she states, before frowning and putting a hand on Yami, "I do mean it though, let me help you fix Kuro." Yami only nods, as she leads her to Kuro's room. Nemesis looks over Mikado's notes, before surveying the weakening form of the former assassin Black, as he floats in the regeneration tank. She puts her hands on the glass, before turning back to Yami. "Since I'm sure you didn't bother checking, did you try and see what would happen if you interacted with him?" Nemesis asks, and Yami shakes her head negatively, "Hmm, since it worked with Rito..." Nemesis claps her hands together and turns to Yami with a smile on her face.

After explaining it once again to the others in the room, Nemesis faces Yami in her Darkness transformation one more time, as Lala and Mikado watch from the sides. Kuro has been taken out of the tank, and placed on a medical bed, which Nemesis and Yami stand from on opposite sides. "Do you understand what you have to do?" Nemesis asks, and Yami nods, "Good, then let us begin." Turning her hair into liquid metal, she gently begins to encase Kuro's body entirely in metal. After a few moments, she quickly begins to drive the metal into Kuro's entire body, all at once, and into the foreign masses within the assassin's body. She feels her nanites beginning to be attacked, but she powers through the pain, as she feels like she is being torn apart, molecule by molecule. After a few minutes, she finally begins to feel the change, a shift in balance as her nano machines begin to adapt, converting the Taoist nanites into her own, and she goes until she stops feeling any resistance from the foreign invaders.

The next part is critical, as Kuro has now been without air for three minutes, and she knows if she does not act quickly, her friend will more than likely suffocate and die. With Nemesis' help, she begins to undo the damage to Kuro's body, fillng what space she can with nanites, and arranging what she cannot restore into the closest approximation of normal for the former assassin. Done with her work, after finally rearranging Kuro's body into a suitable, undamaged form, she retracts her nanites, and watches as Mikado-sensei takes over from there. In mere moments Miakdo is helped by Lala to jumpstart his stilled heart, and she begins compressions to get his lungs breathing again.

After a few seconds of pure panic, Yami is relieved when Kuro opens his eyes, and gasps for breath, startling everybody as the assassin awakens to the world once more. After a minute of getting his surroundings, with Mikado-sensei taking readings to ensure he hadn't suffered in physical or mental damage, she surprisingly let him go with no qualms. Then Kuro looked over his body, and notices a few differences to it, almost immediately. "Why the hell do I look like I am nineteen again?" Kuro asks in astonishment, "What the heck happened to make me younger?" Yami didn't say anything, she merely jumped onto her friend, and began to hug him dearly, confusing him as she began to cry into his shoulder. He was thoroughly confused by this, but to say the least he took it all in stride. Yami was the happiest she had been in quite a while.


	15. Cycle of Life

_Disclaimer: I do not own To Love Ru, otherwise Nemesis would have gotten her own OVA. That seems scary, now that I write it down..._

Yami watched as the _Lunatique_ quickly extracted itself from the sight of the nearby town, to wait for her command to return and pick them up. She was tired of Kuro's whining by now, and choose against her better judgment, to have him join her on the supply run. This was why she chose to go the farthest she could from Sainan Town, while still being within a short distance of via the _Lunatique_ , in case she was needed to help deal with anything strange going around there. She knew that Azenda, or whoever hired her, would be returning to Sainan at their most opportune time, meaning they would lick their wounds and set up plans before trying to attack Rito Yuuki or Lala-hijme. Still, Yami wanted to be cautious and stay out of Sainan as long as she could, knowing her friends would ambush her and try and tell her all that had happened to them while she was gone.

Perhaps it was also the fact she would have to eventually face Rito, that made her a bit hesitant to return as well. In a way, she was responsible for Azenda attacking them again, due to her petty and frankly annoying, need for revenge. Even though Rito had survived because of his newly acquired powers, had she never been sent after Rito by Lacospo, this very likely would have never happened to him. Conversely when she thinks about it, she would have never met a boy as friendly and forgiving as him, or made friends with Lala or Mikan, nor would she have discovered that she could go above and beyond her own programming as a living weapon, and she never would have discovered the greatest creation that the universe had ever provided, Taiyaki!

Smiling, she also thinks back to the exciting life she had been living since coming to such a peaceful planet as Earth. She had made friends and memories, met and connected with her sister Mea-chan, and attempted to make connections with Nemesis, in her own odd way. She had Rito Yuuki to thank for all of this, because her life could have been so short sighted. Maybe one day she find a way to thank Yuuki Rito for being his wonderful, slightly perverted, kind, and caring self. And now, she got to spend time with the young man who had freed her from the restraints of Eden, all those years ago.

Kuro stands a little bit away from her, standing on a boulder as he gives a grin at the sight of the city not to far off from where they had been dropped off. He turns to Yami, which causes her to shake away her musings. "Eve, that's the city you said we're heading for?" Kuro asks, "This one's bigger than that small town we left behind, what did you say this place's name was again, Fukushuru?" Yami smiles, but pauses as the wind sharply blows through the forest.

Kuro is looking down, and can't help but smile at her cute face, as she places her hand to keep her skirt from flipping, while trying to keep the hat she made for her outfit from flying off of her head. Her blonde hair whipping in the wind, Kuro can't help but feel his heart race, as he watches her cute face scrunched up due to the cold blast that came out of nowhere. She straightens herself back up, and Kuro can see she's back to her old self. He jumps down from the boulder and takes off the black jacket he was wearing. "Here," he states, handing the slightly too big jacket to the petite framed girl, "The wind feels fine to me, you can use this while we walk into town..." Yami slightly smiles, her heart warmed by the gesture.

"It's Shurufuku, it's the farthest in range from Sainan, that still falls within the Lunatique's sensor range," Yami states, "Come on, it will take us about ten minutes to reach the outskirts if we start walking now." Kuro nods, and begins to follow the living weapon's trail, smiling all the while. He saw her smile, and it felt good to know she was still happy to be with him, even out here. Ever since he met the confused child, when he was barely sixteen, and she was barely twelve biologically. She may have looked like a fifteen year old even now, but Kuro knew that those eight years showed how much of a difference there was between the two of them. She had came to Earth when she was sixteen, bordering seventeen, and he found that she was still as adorable as ever, for a twenty year old stuck in the body of a teenage. He knew she could obviously alter that, though it seemed to take a toll on her for long periods of time, which is why he was happy that the playing fields were evened now.

He had suffered a late growth spurt after he hit twenty one, but now that he was physically reconstituted as his twenty-year old self, he noticed that their height wasn't that different standing between the two of them right now. He saw it, as they passed by reflective windows and he noticed that when she stood tall at her full height, he barely stood an inch above her. He smiled as she showed interest in all kinds of stores as they walked through the city, it was almost like she was a normal girl, which is all he could ever wish for her to be. He wondered if people would think they were on a date, like they were a couple, but he laughed that off knowing she likely had eyes for that Yuuki Rito-kid. He didn't know how it happened but he knew that kid had to have shown her the first bit of human kindness she had ever received, even after she declared her intentions of killing him, and he seemed to try and be friendly with her still.

Kuro watched her, as they stopped in front of a store that looked like it was meant to sell mainly clothes for girls, and watched as her eyes lit up at seeing a dress that seemed to suit her style of dress. He looks towards the other mannequins in the display, before a face in the reflection catches his eye. Turning with a panicked look on his face, Kuro begins to try and determine where she was. He then spots her, and sees that she was wearing a school uniform. He doesn't know how she is here, only that it couldn't be her. But his curiosity won out, causing him to follow his gut and go after the girl. He hears Yami behind him, obviously trying to see why he reacted so suddenly, only to shout out as she watches him dash across the busy road, narrowly avoiding getting hit as he does so.

He watches the girl turn the corner, and follows her. He watches as she stops talking with two other girls, before parting ways with them. He sees his chance, as she turns another blind corner and he follows her into the alley. " _Saya!_ " Kuro shouts, as he follows the girl down the alleyway, he hears Yami catch up behind him as she enters to follow after him, "Saya-chan, how are you-" The girl turns, and Kuro's heart catches in his throat. He knows he shouldn't be so disappointed, he knew that when he followed the girl, that she wasn't going to be Saya. The facial features give that away almost instantly. Instead of lovely aquamarine, the girls eyes are a cool purple, instead of silvery-brown hair, he finds the girl has natural, dark purple locks, loosely pinned by a pair of red hairpins to keep it from falling into her face.

"Sairenji Haruna?" Yami states, after catching up to the shocked Kuro, "Do you know her, Kuro?" Haruna looks surprised to see the living weapon, and more surprised that she had been approached by this stranger Yami called 'Kuro'. The former assassin merely smiles and closes his eyes, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, I saw your reflection in the window- you look like someone I used to know," Kuro states out loud, much to the confusion of Haruna and Yami, "Sorry to confuse you for an old ghost, Sairenji-san, my name is Kuro, but you may call me Black; I believe when I last saw you, you were at Miss Tenjouin's estate when I went after Khameleon." Haruna's eyes widen, as she now recognizes why the man looks so familiar, and she turns to Yami with her mouth slack jawed.

"What happened to him?" Haruna asks, "Why are you here, Yami-chan?" Yami merely smiles, and approaches Haruna. "Did something happen to Yuuki-kun?" she states, a bit of fear enetering her voice as she asks, "Is something wrong?"

"A lot has happened, Sairenji Haruna," Yami states, as she puts her hand on Haruna's shoulder, "I should probably inform you of what happened to Yuuki Rito, but first is there a place we could go; this tale is better told in private." Haruna nods, before motioning for the two to follow her.

 _Back in Sainan Town_

As Kuro and Yami began their unofficial date, Saruyama and Yui managed to arrive in one piece to their second date. The two had begun to date a week after their meeting in the park, brought together by their mutual concern for learning of Rito's condition, and their love of cats. Saruyama had managed to convince Yui to come on a 'Kitty' picnic for their first date, Saruyama somehow managing to not only convince Yui to wear the Cat ears for the whole experience, but also managed to make her genuinely happy by helping her finally attract the attention of the white stray that roamed the park. She was smiling, knowing that the white cat had finally managed to take her offer of a cat treat, and even played with the both of them as they ate lunch, chasing Yui's feather toy and having a generally good time. Saruyama had been happy that his plan at wooing Yui had succeeded, before he decided to man up and do the one thing he had been dreading to do since confirming with Yui that she did, in fact, want to go on a second date.

Standing in front of his piggy bank, Saruyama is almost left in tears as he brings out the hammer. He can almost hear the squeals of death, as he smashes the ceramic bank into pieces, releasing a massive wad of money from its stomach. Ever since he was a kid, he had put money in this bank, for when he eventually asked a girl out on a date, and now he had a use for the massive amount of money he had squirreled away. Counting it all out, he was happy to learn just how much he had squared away, and after checking pricing online, knew exactly where he was going to take Yui for their second date. It was a slightly above average, not quite fancy restaurant, but it had good reviews suggesting it was a place for young couples to hang out at when they began to date. Now here he sat in front of Yui, him in a rented tux, and Yui in a semi-fancy dress she had found her mother had bought for her, upon learning she was going on a date.

Both of them were blushing brightly, as ambient, foreign music played in the restaurant, and candle light played on their table. Smiling, Saruyama faced Yui, who smiled back nervously as well. "Thanks for inviting me here, I hope the food we ordered is good," Yui states, "Have you been here before, Saruyama?" Saruyama merely chuckles a bit, and scratches the back of his neck.

"Not really, but I checked out reviews, and this place seemed to get good reviews," Saruyama replies, "It helped it fits into my budget a bit too, but I wanted to treat you to soemthing a bit more memorable for our second date!" Yui smiles at Saruyama's frankness, before she looks out of the nearby window, and her eyes go wide. Saruyama is staring out the window as well, as he watches the sky suddenly light up, along with Yui, before they feel a shockwave from some kind of explosion rock the building. "Was that coming form where I think it did?" Saruyama states, looking back at Yui, who can only nod, "What the hell is happening at Rito's house now?"

 _Yuuki Household_

 _Formerly Lala's Rooftop Housing_

The hole in the roof surprised Lala, though the fact her spatially folded home had been ripped open like a can of tuna, yet gladly had not unfolded and crushed the remaining structure of the house under its weight. Though the fact that Rito currently had a blank gaze on his face as he lifted the sword above his head, was concerning to her. She had watched as he grabbed the hilt of the sword and saw him balance it in his hands, swinging it around with practiced ease. Then she watched as his hands started to sound like they were enveloped in a haze, audible popping as the air began to be superheated, before his hands, more specifically the hand he held the sword in, began to be shrouded by energized dark matter. He quickly did the most logical thing he could think of at the time, and pointed his hand and sword upward. The sword had begun to vibrate in his hand, slightly glowing as it did so, before a massive explosion erupted from the tip in the form of a massive lance of highly volatile, purple energy.

Lala now stood, watching as Rito fell to his knees, energy gone from his hands and body unharmed from the experience. It seemed that he had truly changed as whatever reaction with Bladix that occurred this time, while unexpected and uncontrolled, showed Rito was immune to the Dark Matter he now produced. Lala quickly rushes over to Rito's unconscious form, and decides to try and remove the blade from Rito's hand, only to find the sword had somehow latched itself around his wrist. Lala decided that this was going to be a problem...

 _Rito's Mind?_

"Ow," Rito states, as he stands up in the middle of what appears to be a large, grass field. He looks around and sees nothing but grass as far as he can tell. He looks up to see the sky is blue and full of clouds, though wherever he is, he knows something odd is going on. It was then that he tried looking into the sun, and things got weird. The sun closed its single, massive eyelid, and the sun goes out. When it opens next, it takes a moment before Rito realizes that it was giant eye!

" _ **Hahahaha-**_ " the voice of Bladix rumbles from everywhere, " **It seems you and I have unfinished business, Yuuki Rito!** " Rito tries not to scream, as the massive eye suddenly shrinks down into a smaller size. The phantom form of Bladix appears in front of Rito, looking almost exactly like he did when he invaded Rin's mind with Mea's help. Suddenly a tendril lashes out and grasps around Rito's hand, and he struggles to pull out of the tight grasp of the metal tendril.

"Have you come to take me over?" Rito asks seriously, "I fought you once before, and I know I can break out of here again!" Bladix merely chuckles, which sounds odd for a metal sword, but Rito chalks it up to be somewhere lost inside his own mind.

" **Nothing so droll,** ** _Master_** **,** " Bladix states, to the surprise of Rito, " **When you blew up the nanites that were trying to extract my 'soul' from your memories, you managed to disrupt any control I could have gained over you.** " Rito doesn't know whether to believe the sword or not, but then the manifestation starts to sag, before snapping back into place before Rito's eyes. " **What little power I have left I used to manifest here, to bring you into this shared mindscape, and ensure I could not be removed before I pass what I can onto you** ," Bladix states, " **I've seen your memories and read the skills you've manifested in our brief contact, when you dispersed my 'true self'; I know with what you lack in skill and self-control, you make up for in determination and courage**." Rito doesn't know how to respond to Bladix's compliment.

"What are you playing at, Bladix?" Rito asks, "How can I believe you're dying, when I know for a fact that you're a part of the sword, as long as the sword remains whole, you can't die." Rito smirks, happy to know he exposed the flaw in the sentient sword's cunning plan.

" **Normally, you would be right, but as I said, you burned away what was left of the original Bladix,** " it responds, "T **his representation, is more of an imprint, left in your memories like a sentient shadow created by your powers awakening at the cellular level, even if not all of your body was damaged it was affected by Dark Matter.** " Bladix starts to warp again, and Rito truly believes something must be wrong with the living blade. " **I am not long for this world, Yuuki Rito, I truly will 'die' after I pass what I believe you need, on to you,** " Bladix states, " **Yuuki Rito, you have determination in your heart, a striving to grow, and the willingness to learn; of all my previous hosts, you need the most training, you** ** _need_** **my experience.** " Bladix begins to glow, lines of energy suddenly expanding outward from the eye at its center, slowly moving down through the connection at Rito's wrist, until it begins to spread onto Rito's arm.

"What are you doing?" Rito asks, as he feels his fingers begin to burn, "Bladix, _what are you doing?_ " If the blade could smile, Rito felt that it was giving him a pitying look. Rito could only watch in horror as it began to travel up his arm, over his shoulder, and onto chest, leaving pinpricks and the feeling of ice in his veins. " _Arrgghhh!_ " Rito hollers, to no avail, as he feels his left leg begin to go numb, "Wh- what are you d-doing?" Bladix refuses to answer, as the lines of energy consume both his legs and both arms, as they now finish with his body and begin to crawl up his neck. The pain is worse than a thousand paper cuts, and wonders if his body in the real world can stand whatever is happening within his mind. "Blad-" Rito chokes out, as the circuitry pattern travels up both sides of his neck, his throat becoming hoarse and immobile, "- _ix_." Even his eyes seem to be affected by the pattern, as Rito feels himself being cocooned by the burning energy.

" **Yuuki Rito** ," the voice of Bladix states, " **Over two thousand years I have hunted for the blood of my enemies, gorging on the life sustaining liquid, fueled by hundreds of years of hate, anger, greed, and the all consuming lust for more...** " A flash of memory, and Rito feels like he is swinging the sword into the bark of a tree, missing his intended target. " **I have sought one prize above all else, the only kind that could ever slack my thirst, and leave me wanting more!** " the sword states, and all Rito sees is a flash of pink, and the terrified look of a young women as Rito drives his sword into her, " **You are so much like my former Master, a Holy Man who only wished to end the threat to those he called his.** " This time Rito gets a flash of Bladix crossing paths with a jeweled cutlass made of orichalcum and its wielder with silver-brown hair, before this memory passes too. " **I have been wielded by hundreds of sword wielders, aliens you could only see in museums, some wiped out by my previous wielders, and all I have used like puppets on a string,** " Bladix states, " **But you, Rito, I give you a gift: the inherited muscle memory of all wielders before you, their technique, their skills, are now yours, Yuuki Rito, use them wisely.** "

Rito can finally open his eyes, as the burning finally passes. He feels Bladix still in his hand, but suddenly the sword feels light, wrong in his hand. He then watches as the blade begins to crumble to dust in his grip, starting from the tip. "Bladix, what will happen next?" he asks desperately, trying to understand why the dying blade is giving him all this knowledge, "Why will this benefit me, why now?" He feels like Bladix is smiling with his eye, and Rito actually feels like a piece of him is dying.

" **Yuuki Rito, the f-future has been f-foreseen, and it is inevitable** ," the voice of Bladix struggles out, " **I m-may be dying, but something new will be b-born-** " Yuuki doesn't have time to question what the crumbling blade means, as the eye itself begins to crumble to dust. In less than ten seconds, Bladix is gone, and suddenly Rito feels like he is a bout to pass out. As he succumbs to exhaustion, he watches as his body alights in a purplish haze, before recognizing in some corner of his mind that he is on fire.

" **Sleep now, Yuuki Rito,** " a new, younger, kinder voice states softly, " **And we shall** ** _both_** **be reborn into something new...** " Rito closes his eyes, and lets the purple flames consume him.


	16. Interlude Pt3:Back to Lala's Future, Pt1

_I'm sorry, I'm so cruel but I just don't know how to end Lala' time in the past. So, we get a little bit of a peek into what occurred at the end of Chapter Six. Go on, go back and read it. you know you wa~n~na~_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own To Love Ru. It's quite simple, really._

When Roido awoke to the darkness of his bed, he finds the wide eyes of Mau staring into his own. "Roido-sama!" Mau states in excitement, "Lala-san and I thought you were never going to wake up!" Roido widens his eyes and grabs Mau by the shoulders, as he hauls himself up and out of his bed.

"Mau, how much time has passed?" he asks, quite serious, "I need to know, how long have I been out?" The answer was imperative, he had to know how much time he had left to complete the sword. Mau merely raises an eyebrow at his Master's eccentric attitude, but shrugs nonetheless.

"You've been out for about two days, nothing has happened since you fell asleep, Lala helped me with the chores around the house, I cooked her some food," Mau states, as Roido stands from his bed and starts to stretch his half asleep body, "She started to work on a way home, since she should have been recalled by her Robot, or one of her friends, back into the future already." Roido raises his eyebrow at that, but if Mau was right, it was imperative he make sure that girl made it back to the future. She was too young, which meant somehow she not only traveled back into the past to see him, she needed to return to complete the future he saw in his vision, or else she would be the cause of a massive paradox.

Roido ran his hand through his hair, sighing as he weighed the possibilities in his head. Currently the Devilukean, as Lala had identified him as such, was halfway across the continent, scouring every village, town, and kingdom for a yet unknown purpose, which he now realizes must be for his sword. He, of course, doesn't know why the invader wants his sword, but he knows that once the man finds it, somehow he manages to kill himself, but a future version of Mau on Mistletoe. The curse that his ability gave him was twofold, of course, in a situation like this. He couldn't reveal too much, otherwise he would risk unintended contamination of future events, like ripples in a pond, but give too little and things either work themselves out, or even bigger ripples could occur by inaction. Lala's very presence in the past, meant the future was already in jeopardy until she made it home safely. Roido knew what he had to do.

"Ah, Roido!" Lala states, upon seeing the elder Charmian walk into the room, "You're up, that's great!" Roido immediately notices that she has pulled apart junk items from failed tests or useless items he had accumulated over the years. A lot of the items were just broken because they failed after being used to forge his weapons. It seemed, though, that Lala's intelligence and ingenuity was able to surpass whatever obstacle faced her, something that caused Roido to pause. "Roido?" Lala asks, as she watches him from her seat, "Is something up?" Roido merely kneels in response and puts his hand to her head.

"I need you to close you eyes, Lala-san, and I want you to clear your mind as best you can," Roido states, "I need to check something..." Lala complies, much to her confusion, but Roido can tell she is doing the best she can. He smiles, and concentrates, trying to sense the faint vibrations, the pulse within her heart... There! With a smile, Roido now knew why she traveled back into the past, why she came here, and his suspicions were confirmed upon finding the evidence he needed. "Thank you, Lala," he states, removing the back of his hand from her forehead, "I know believe I know why you came here, along with why I saw you in my vision."

"You saw me in your vision?" Lala questions with wide eyes, "How, why, where, and when?" He smiles at the excited Devilukean girl, but merely puts his hand on her head and ruffles her hair, like he used to do with his sister.

"I can't tell you, not now, but I know who can help you in your quest to return home,"  
he states, brimming with confidence, "My sister Michella, she has access to a plethora of technological marvels that I don't have out here, I'm going to send you and Mau to her, and come up to join you once I'm done forging the sword." Lala is brimming with excitement, knowing she was about to meet Charmian Royalty, possible family members that were her mothers ancestors!

"All right, Roido, what do we need to do?" Lala states, determination set on her face. Roido smiles, and begins to stroke his chin in thought.

 _Days Later, Outside the Royal Castle_

Lala was possibly abuzz with excitement, while her partner was less thrilled. "Lala, do I have to keep wearing this stupid blindfold?" Mau complains, for the fifth time that day, "I know Roido-sama said I wasn't allowed to go out without it, especially around female Charmians, but can't I just take it off to enjoy the view of the city, I promise I won't look anywhere but up!" Lala merely sighs, and pats Mau on the head.

"I'm sorry Mau, but Roido is right, you can't view a full blooded Charmian, without going mad with lust!" she states, matter-of-factly, "You'll have to stay blindfolded once we meet Michella too, once we get you a private room with no windows, then you take it off!" Mau merely sighed, knowing the lack of sight went against his very social and inquisitive nature. He had to see something, anything, or else he would go crazy! Finally, the guards stopped Lala and Mau at the gate, and Lala slipped them the first of the three letters they were required to bring with them, when they decided to go into the Royal Castle. One was for the Royal Guard, enclosing direct instructions detailing that they were Roido's personal guests, and to direct them to Michella immediately. This they did, and Lala and Mau found themselves facing a tall Charmian woman with a kind smile.

"Ah, you must be Roido's kid, Mau, I know we've never met, but I was always told by Roido how you loved the flowers!"Michella states, "But you, miss, I don't believe we've met?" Lala nods and introduces herself, before handing her the second letter, which was addressed to Michella. Reading it, she found herself smiling at her brothers messy handwriting, before laughing out loud. Finally Mau had had enough, hearing such a melodious voice, after walking or riding blindfolded, that he tore off his cloth and threw it to the ground. Lala was shocked at Mau's sudden change in mood, and before she found herself wondering what he had in mind, he had already locked eyes with Michella. "Are you okay?" she askes the teenage plant, "I know you're probably being exposed to a lot of feelings right now, I knwo you are probably wanting to act on your impulses- but Mau, I'm your aunt, and I can't have you XXXX, or XXXX, me, as I want our relationship to be healthy!" Mau just blinks for a moment, before laughing out loud, much to the confusion of Lala and Michella.

"That- this is supposed to be the famous Charmian bewitchment?" he says, in between laughs, he wipes away at the forming tears, "Oh-oh- oh, gosh, I-I thought I was really going to be in trouble there Lala, form the way you and Roido-sama described it!" Lala and Michella merely stare in astonishment at Mau, before Michella snaps her fingers in front of his face, whcih causes him to pause in his laughter. "What?" he asks innocently, before crossing his arms, "I'm fairly hearty, maybe your pheromones don't work on me the same way they do men or animals?" Lala merely nods in concern, before she turns back to Michella.

"Will you help me build my way back home?" she asks Michella, "I need to return to my time, and Roido said you would help me build a way back to the future!" Michella nods, before leading Lala and Mau into another room.

 _One Week Later..._

"There, after five failed tests, six various times we reconstructed the telepad, and one successful test, we're ready!" Lala states in joy, "I can go home now!" Michella stared in awe of the machine, as did Mau, who watched as Lala walked in front of the machine, to begin her presentation to the two other members of the design committee. "Lady Michella, and Mau, may I present to you the Pyon-Pyon Warp-Kun DX, Fast-Forward Mk. Infinity!" she states loud and proud, "With this, I will set my time and destination in, and after returning to my present, the machine will burn itself out, so as to prevent you all from being tempted to use it to visit me in the future!" Mau sighs at that and Michella merely pats him on the shoulder. "Oh, that reminds me Michella!" Lala states, before pulling a third letter out of her pocket, and giving it to the ambassador Charmian, "Rodio wanted me to give this to you when the machine was complete, he says its instructions he wants you and Mau to follow once I leave!"

Michella takes it, and looks it over, noticing her brother warns her not to open it until after Lala has left. "Very well, Lala-san," Michella states, "I will follow these instructions to the letter; should you not hesitate and return to your time this very instant, so as to not disrupt the timeline any further?" Lala nods, and gives both Mau and Michella big hugs.

"Thank you, for helping me, really, and tell Roido-sama I missed him before I left!" Lala states, "Mau, take good care of all those plants, I hope to learn more about you all once I get back home, and ask my mom about you all!" Mau and Michella both laugh, as Lala gets onto the Pyon-Pyon Warp-Kun DX Fast-Forward Mk. Infinity. "Goodbye!" Lala waves as she activates the device, "I hope to hear about you real soon!" In a flash Lala is gone, and her machine is melted into the floor.

Michella laughs, happy that the child had returned home, before looking to the letter her brother left her. Opening it up, she begins to read it:

-  
 _Dear Michella,_

 _I hope this letter reaches you, as I instructed Lala to hand it off to you, to read once she had returned to the future. I am sorry, sister, but I have failed you._

 _The Ninth Blade will remain incomplete, for I will be dead by the time you read this letter. There is little doubt the man arrived shortly after they left, maybe a day or two later at the most. I do not know why he has killed me, nor will I likely find out, though perhaps it was fear, of the unknown, of the dangerous weapons I made, of how they would be used if put into the wrong hands. I hate to think that as you read this, I am making you sad, but I must to warn you._

 _You must flee, now, and do so quickly. I fear the Devil will have corrupted the sword, its hunger will be insatiable, as the Devil craves battle like no other. Lala has informed me of her peoples conquering ways, of bloodlust in battle, tempered by a code of honor. The sword is incomplete, it will yield to no man or beast, and it will consume the Devil and our people, and finish what the famines and diseases don't._

 _Take the Royal Family, whoever you can, and evacuate. Order the colony ships to be launched, the ones you thought I had no clue you were building. Markos always took my words to heart, he knew as well as I that war would come to us. I am afraid that it has come in the form of a devil. But there is hope. Mau, he must go to Mistletoe, there he must find the back-up forge and use it. He doesn't know it yet, but he will do the unthinkable, he will surpass my greatness and forge the Tenth Weapon. I will not tell you what it is, as it will affect the outcome, but I can tell you it will be a true Hero's weapon._

 _We have hope, trust me._

 _The future will be bright and our people will survive. Lala assures us of this. She is of our people, I could sense it in her, she is your descendant Michella. She has the power within her, even if she doesn't realize just how it manifested within her. She will be the crux, the turning point of the future. She must live, Michella, or all we did, was for naught._

 _I have hope._

 _Your Brother_  
 _Llyod 'Roido' Goldwynne. Jr._

Michella is crying, and Mau takes the fallen letter from her hand. He too begins to cry, and they comfort each other in their sadness.

 _Lala's Future,_  
 _Ten Years Too Late_

The Deviluke flagship spins over the carcass of a gray and dying world. They had just left before the acid rains could make repairs to the ship worse, as they had to stop for emergency repairs on the only habitable planet in the nearest system. Of course it had been the only planet that was also quarantined and illegal to dock at or trade with. Having the current princess of Deviluke on board helped with that though. The purple eyes stare out the nearest window in curiosity, showing the retreating planet as the uninhabited remains of the biggest war in history is left behind. She had been told that that place had been in ruins since the King of Deviluke fought for his life there, leaving the desolate remains as a reminder to all those who oppose him.

Earth was a planet of scars and bad memories that made her head hurt. Uwe was thankful to leave that place, the pink haired Charmian/Deviluke girl quite content to live her life in the palace, under the adoration of her Father and King. It was the best life she could ever have after all that her mother had sacrificed for her. She turned away from the window and sighed, content to close the window into space and sit in darkness until the dreams took her. Uwe then stopped, when she heard the distinct crackle of lighting, followed by a flash, and a smell of burnt atmosphere. She turned the lights on, and found an intruder on her bed. The long, pink colored hair gave Uwe pause, since she recognized the girl from the stories her Mother had told her. This was Lala, this was the missing eldest Princess of Deviluke, this was her Aunt!

"Lala?" Uwe asks cautiously, the unconscious girl had landed perfectly in the middle of her bed, "Lala Satalin Deviluke?" The girl stirred a little, and to Uwe, she had her proof. She quickly ran to the intercom, buzzing her Handmaid into her room. Her servant found her way into the room soon enough, before taking sight of the passed out girl and going for a a rag and some water. The mousy women was once beautiful, there was no doubt, but the toil under the hard thumb of the King of Deviluke, had turn once lustrous brown locks, into fraying shades of gray. She hid her body under the dull, earth-toned robe that hid her figure, Uwe trusted her Handmaiden as to what to do, knowing how this discovery should be handled.

"Get your Father," her Handmaid stated, as she washed Lala's forehead with the rag, "Tell him to prepare an extra plate of food for dinner; it seems his dead finacee will be joining him for dinner." Uwe nods, before leaving her room to go report to her father. Once she was sure the child was gone, the maid relaxed, before pulling off her hood and staring at the girl before her to make sure she was real.

"Oh, Lala, what have you done now?" she states, her eyes full of worry, "We just leave Earth on the anniversary of your death, and you show up here out of place, out of time?" She dabs at her forehead some more, before sighing out loud. "Either he is the unluckiest b- around, or you had the misfortune of coming here by mistake," she says to now one in particular, "I don't know how we're going to get you out of this, Lala, but we have too; if you're from before..." The maid shudders to think of that outcome, then she hears footsteps outside the room. Quickly replacing her hood, she steps up and back, as the King of Deviluke accompanied by his daughter, Uwe, steps into the room.

"Is she who you think she is?" the King asks in his deep and throaty voice, "Is she really Lala Satalin Deviluke, the one that got away?" The handmaid nods, bowing as the King passes her. He steps up to the bed and grabs her by the chin, she still doesn't respond as she is unconscious. "How long I have waited for this day, Lala-san," he states, "You were the only one I never had the satisfaction of stealing from him, that day!" With a twirl of his prehensile tail, he drags the tri-tipped appendage over her body and breasts, enjoying every moment. He turns to Uwe's Handmaiden and addresses her directly. "Prepare her to join us for dinner, do not inform her of my identity," he states, "I want to surprise her, after all!" The Handmaiden nods, as the King leaves. Though Uwe notices the tears in her Handmaiden's eyes, she chooses to ignore them. She was once one of Lala's friends, after all.

 _ **End Intermission: Back to Lala's Future, Pt.1**_


	17. The Past! Confrontation! Surprise!

_Disclaimer: I do not own To Love Ru. I do own everything in my room though!_

 _Six Months Ago_

Haruna Sairenji stood in front of the Yuuki home. She had her bag shouldered, and was currently causing her sister and her ever loyal boyfriend to wait for her in his car. It didn't help that her sister was in a hurry to get to Sainan Airport, having to go overseas for her work and suspend the lease on her apartment as a result, that in turn caused Haruna to rush and confess to her own absent boyfriend that she had to move back in with her parents over in Shurufuku. He had been out of town for most of the summer, deep in the woods camping with his father and Zastin, supposedly staying at his father's back-up Manga studio that he used when he needed a scenery change.

Today was the day he was scheduled to return, and Haruna wanted to tell him directly that she was moving. She hadn't been able to tell Mikan, Nana, or Momo that she was moving, but she had ran into Lala while she was out with her friends on her final weekend before she moved to Shurufuku. If she hadn't been so careless, she wouldn't have to do this so directly, as her phone had not only managed to be broken over the summer, but her contacts had all been lost until she managed to retrieve most of her friends numbers directly. Still, she felt bad to spring this on Rito so soon, but she had no clue how long it would be before she returned to Sainan. Her parents had already moved her to another school, too, as this was her final year, which made returning to Sainan unlikely. She wanted to confess her feelings to Rito, officially become boyfriend and girlfriend, maybe even more-

As the door opened after the second knock, Haruna shook herself from her daydream and smiled at the person in the doorway. It was Momo, who looked half asleep, even though it was nearly ten in the morning, her silky, lace nightgown slipping down her shoulder, almost trying to expose her assets to the cold morning air. Haruna coughed, covering her disappointment with a nervous smile, as she realizes it isn't Rito at the door. "Ah, Momo-san, sorry if I woke you!" she chirps, "I was wondering if Rito has returned yet?" The Devilukean girl merely yawns, running an eye as she blinks and begins to focus a bit more on Haruna against the glare of the sunlight.

"S-sorry Haruna-chi, Rito still isn't home yet, Lala stayed up all night worrying, so we didn't- _hwahhh_ -" Momo speech is cut off by another yawn, before she pinches her face to wake up, "Sorry Haruna, is there something I can pass on to him when he does get here?" Haruna smiles uneasily, a little hurt that she can't tell Rito directly, but she sighs and pulls out a piece of paper from her bag.

"Thank you Momo, I wanted to tell him directly, but I guess I can leave him a note," Haruna responds, grabbing a pen and beginning to write stuff down, "Tell him I lost my contacts, and that this is my new phone number, and that I'm sorry I wasn't able to talk to him directly before I left." Momo's eyes widen at this, but Haruna keeps speaking. "Yeah, I guess Lala didn't remember, but I'm moving to Shurufuku to stay with my parents, until Akiho comes back from an oversees photojournalist job she's taking for her newspaper," Haruna says, handing her the piece of paper, "It has my new address on it as well, in case Rito wants to come visit, it's only about a three hour ride by bus to there, so tell him to come visit me!" Momo tightly smiles at this information, before Haruna suddenly steps forward and gives her an impromptu hug.

"H-Haruna-chi!" Momo states, a bit shocked by the sudden hug, but she relents until Haruna pulls back with tears in her eyes, "Haruna, a-aren't you coming back?" Haruna smiles sadly, before she hears a honk from the car sitting idle on the street.

"I'm going to make her late!" Haruna says, realizing she had spent too much time talking already, before she turns back to Momo, "Tell Rito to call me, I want to tell him everything, okay Momo?" She smiles, before turning and sprinting down the driveway and shuffling into the car. Momo watched as the car pulled away, before she closed tand put her back to the door, the paper held behind her in her hands.

"Something wrong, Momo?" Rito asks, drying his wet hair as he walks down the stairs from his room, and into the living room, "Did they have the wrong house?" Momo merely smiled in return at Rito, as he slowly walked in front of her.

"Yes," she states, "They had the wrong house!" She crumples the piece of paper behind her back in her hands, before dropping it into the wastebasket. She smiles as she follows Rito into the kitchen, where the others were already eating a late breakfast.

 _Now_

To say Momo was surprised to find the hole in their roof, she was more surprised to see it had been patched over with a bunch of nails and plywood. She really hoped that it would keep the subspace folds from spilling out and crushing the main Yuuki house, as she had begun to feel that it was truly like being home. She was more worried about Rito and her sister, knowing that both of them had been at home when she had left, meaning both of them had to be involved with the damage done to their house. "Rito!" She called out, as she opened the door, "Lala, Nee-sama?" She cautiously trekked up the stairs, before opening seeing Rito's bedroom door wide open.

"Nee-sama?" she asks, as she peeks her head in, "Lala,what happened to the house?" She sees Lala hovering over Rito, who appeared to be in the bed and tucked into his sheets. Lala looks relieved at seeing someone else, as the house had appeared to be empty of everyone else.

"Shhh!" Lala whisper shouts, "Rito blew up again, but he's fine now; it seems when he tried to come into contact with Bladix again, he still carried some excess energy, and that caused him to focus it through the sword to expel it- upwards, through the roof." Momo looked skeptical at her sister's explanation, but sighs when she sees that the cursed sword had been rewrapped in the unique bandages Lala had provided for it.

"Is he going to blow up every time he wields that sword?" Momo asks, "If it becomes a habit, we might just have to ship it to Father, until he needs a weapon of mass destruction to deal with a troublesome planet." Lala knew she was joking, but she still sighs, gripping Rito's left hand as he slept. Bladix had let go after a few moments, the energy clearly having gone dormant within Rito and the sword cleansed of whatever caused it to react to him.

"The sword didn't react to Rito after he expended the dark matter energy for the second time, it had even latched onto his hand, like it didn't want to be removed," Lala states, which causes Momo to give her serious response time to sink in, "The blade apparently had residue energy on it after I had wrapped it in the dampening wrap, the Blade wasn't able to fully merge with him until their energy levels were the same, so it drew out Rito's energized Dark Matter to level both of them off."

"You mean, Bladix couldn't try and take him over because of Rito's charged physiology?" Momo replies, "Does that mean we have to worry about Rito being possessed, the next time he wields that sword?" Lala shakes her head in response.

"It's a little more deeper than that, Momo, the physical blade couldn't adapt to Rito's physiology, sure, but Bladix is more than 'just a sword'," Lala states, turning to look at the blade propped up against the closet, "When the sword took over Rin last year, Rin had the mindset of a warrior, she was perfect match both physically and mentally as a host for the parasitic intelligence." Seh looks back to Rito, stands, and holds back her hair, as she tests his forehead to see his temperature. Satisfied, she sighs and sits back down, looking to Momo. "The sword, Bladix is a spiritual weapon, forged by an ancient weapon smith, commonly nicknamed 'Chronos', who dealt in Orichalcum weaponry powered or strengthened by Tao energy," Lala states, "Because it's user needs to be balanced to use them, to forge a connection they must either have powerful emotional control, or he must forcibly purge his mind of negative emotions, to cement bond between the weapon and its wielder."

Momo is startled that Lala knows this, but she can also see the worry beneath the surface of her smile. Lala was holding something back, and she wasn't wanting to spill it. She was fine with that, as she had her own secrets as well, and knew that whatever it was troubling her, Lala would tell her in her own time. "So, Rito wasn't physically or mentally the right match..." Momo begins to say, "Why did the sword react to him at all, then?" Lala nods, before she grabs Momo's hand and places it on Rito's exposed forearm. Momo feels the immediate difference when Lala gently squeezes her hand over it.

"The sword used the energy to do more than just expel the excess," Lala states, smiling, "It somehow stimulated his muscle growth, causing the equivalent of months of training to accumulate nearly instantly, though he still appears to be fairly lean, meaning this is more than likely a boost to help Rito start the process and begin follow through." Momo stares wide eyed at this, before she begins poking at a few other muscles on Rito's body, to feel a definite change in his physical attributes. She tries not to show she's drooling in front of Lala, and she silent swallows. "I also believe the explosion, the violent detonation, was the swords doing as well," Lala states, "With Haruna moving, Rito's stress has been building up in him for months, we just never recognized the signs because of our own hectic lifestyle; a human isn't used to the same emotional stimulus we are, they don't react the same way we do to say, a liar, or how they hide their feelings deep down until it causes them physical pain."

Momo doesn't know why her sister is talking about hypothetical's like that, but she shrugs it off and Lala resumes speaking. "Rito has been emotionally suppressing his loneliness, he's been depressed Momo, and we ignored it!" Lala cries out at her sister's callous attitude, "He's seemed so happy, but he was hurting Momo!" Momo is a bit shocked to find this out, but she tries to push that guilt away.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Momo yells back, coiling her tail over her head as she responds, "I didn't do anything wrong, how could I know he would be affected by Haruna leaving like that!" She clenches her fists as she pants, feeling like a weight is lifted off of her chest. Lala merely sighs and puts her hand over her eyes.

"Momo- you don't get it, still you don't get it?" Lala states, a sad smile coming over her face as she speaks, "The sword, the sword not only changed him physically; that first explosion wasn't just caused by over-absorbing energy, it was the sword's response to make Rito stronger!" Momo steps back, as if slapped by her sister's words. "When the sword tried to bond with him this time, it not only tried to change him physically, it altered his mental state; we'll be lucky if he comes out the same Rito we loved!" Lala yells, "He may not even love us anymore, do you understand that?" Lala is covering her head with her hands, and starting to fall to her knees as if in pain. "He'll- he'll~" she whimpers, as she breaks down crying, "I thought I c-could save him-" She cries and Momo can't help but feel panic rise in her chest, as she watches her older sister break out into hysterics.

Momo watches, and then she sees Rito begin to stir. "Rito!" she cries out happily, which causes Lala to stop crying, and stand up, "Rito, we were so afraid-" Both sisters were in tears, as they watched Rito smile at them both. He coughs, wracking his body as he does so, but he stops and manages to sit up.

"Did I do much damage, this time?" he asks Lala, who shakes her head as she decides to not mention the hole in the inter-dimensional rooftop patched up by boards and nails, which causes Rito to smile, "Good, I figured after the last time, I wouldn't survive a second encounter with Bladix." Rito smiles, resting his head against his wall, with a content smile on his lips. "Thank you Lala, for being here with me," he states, before he turns to Momo, "Thank you Momo, for being here when I woke up; I'm sure Lala was starting to panic because nobody was home." Momo laughs a bit at that, as does Lala, who jumps onto Rito. He catches his breath as she wraps her arms around his shoulders, and begins crying into his arms.

"R-rito, I was so afraid you weren't going to wake up- that you weren't going to be the same Rito I fell in love with!" she cries out, which causes Rito pause, and Momo feels her heart skip at that tidbit, "Rito- Bladix, is he?" Rito closes his eyes, and smiles, before shaking his head.

"I think he's gone, for now," Rito states, "He told me that he had 'died' when I picked up the sword the first time, that all that was left was a faint imprint in the blade that used all its energy up to talk to me, to impart some kind of training that I needed-" Lala nods and pulls up his arm, giving it a squeeze as she does so. "Whoa," Rito states, as he tosses of the blanket, sliding his legs off the bed, "Everything feels- different, stronger..." He flexes his arm, and then wiggles his toes. The experience is almost alien to him, but he stands with Lala's help, with a smile on his face as a result.

"You've gotten _bigger_ , Rito!" Momo states just a bit seductively, tossing in a sultry smile as she wraps her hands around one of his biceps, "We might just have to give your ~whole~ body a test~" Rito shakes her off, smiling nervously as he does so.

"I'm sure we can test my body later, Momo," Rito states, much to her annoyance, "Lala, can you give me a minute with Momo?" Lala turns her head in puzzlement for a moment, before sighing and smiling. "Thank you, see if Mikan or anyone else is home yet," Rito states, "We don't want them all freaking out when they hear about what happened." Lala chuckles, and thinks back to the hole in the roof, before nodding and rushing down the stairs. As she departs, Momo smiles enormously and tosses herself onto Rito's shoulder, happy to have Lala gone. She realizes he feels stiff, and she looks up to see Rito staring off into space.

"Rito?" Momo asks, "What are you thinking about?" Rito blinks, and refocuses his attention on Momo. Rito takes her by the shoulders, and places her in front of him. This was the first time she notices that Rito overtakes her in height, and she is left having to look up to meet his eyes.

"Momo, I- I don't know what to say," Rito starts off, which causes her heart to beat just a little bit faster, "I- I need to be honest with you about my feelings, but I don't know how to say this..." Momo tries not to let a smile overtake her face, as she realizes that Rito must be trying to confess to her. "Momo, there's no easy way to say this, but," Rito continues, "I need you to give up on me, I need you to give up on the Harem Plan, for your happiness and mine!" Momo steps back, knowing that she must have heard him wrong.

"No- _no_ -" she states, staring wide eyed, as she looks at him with a scared face, "No- you aren't- are you rejecting me?" Momo realizes that Rito, the lovable, caring, friendly, thoughtful boy, who wouldn't intentionally hurt a girls feelings... He was breaking up with her? She shakes her head, and laughs it off, looking up at Rito with a fake smile on her face. "You _can't_ be serious?" Momo states in disbelief, "What- what's changed Rito?" He looks down at her, smiling that caring smile, and he puts a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry Momo Belia Deviluke, but I, Yuuki Rito, have certain expectations as your sister's Fiance," he states, sadness tingeing his voice as he speaks, "As a love interest, I have to break off any romantic interests you might-" Momo slaps his hand off of her shoulder in anger, as her eyes blaze with sudden rage.

"Are you breaking up with me because my _FATHER_ ordered Lala to _marry you_?" She states, having put together Lala's reaction to a letter Father had sent her sometime last month, "You are breaking up with me, Rito Yuuki, when you didn't even have the courage to reject me yourself, when I practically threw myself onto you, like, like some kind of wh-" She suddenly feels a slap to her face, and she puts her hand to her face in shock. As she looks up, she notices even Rito is in shock, having been pushed aside my another, familiar face. Momo stares in shock, as Haruna Sairenji massages her angry looking hand, the force of the slap causing her own hand to feel the pain.

"You don't talk to Rito like that!" Haruna states, with a deadly tint to her words, "You don't get to talk about yourself, like that either!" Momo can only stare in shock, as Haruna turns to Rito, inspecting him as she does so. She then hugs him, causing Rito to choke out a gasp in surprise. "Rito- when Yami-chan told me what happened to you-" she says, "When she told me you hadn't been told I moved, then that you were hurt in an explosion- well, you look fine!" A shadow crosses Momo's face, as Haruna smiles and stares into Rito's eyes. Rito looks happily at his girlfriend, before shaking off the feeling to turn back to Momo.

He was too late, as Momo shoved Haruna into Rito's arms, running out the door. "Momo, wait!" he calls out, following her to the top of the stairs, "Hear me out, let me explain!" He wasn't fast enough, as Momo stands at the open front door, looking back with tears streaming down her eyes. "Momo!" he calls out, as she turns and slams the door, "Momo..." Haruna grabs his arm, as he starts to go down.

"No, Rito, let her cool down," she says, "We both need to get some things off our chest." Rito feels conflicted for a moment, before he sighs and follows Haruna back into his room. Rito sighs, as Haruna sits on his bed, patting it to let him know she wants him to sit next to him. Rito obliges, and sits down on his own bed.

"Haruna/ _Rito..._ " they both say at the same time, "Go/ _ahead..._ " Both of them laugh as they speak, before Haruna speaks up.

"Go ahead, Rito, talk first," Haruna states, "I want to hear what's been going on since I left Sainan!" Rito smiles, and thinks back to all the excitement he's had in the past two months.

"Well, I got Yui and Saruyama together, if you can believe that," he starts off with, and Haruna laughs at that, "Seriously, it was actually Saruyama who came up with the idea after-" He pauses, and turns to Haruna. He looks into her lovely purple eyes, he sees how little she's changed, with her familiar purple hairstyle and understanding expressions on her face. He smiles, thinking back to how when he used to get into situations like these, he couldn't sputter out two words without embarrassing himself over some misunderstanding.

"Rito?" Haruna asks, "Is something wrong?" He shakes his head, and finally sees he has the assurance he needed. He grabs Haruna by the shoulders, and pulls her close to him. She squeaks in surprise, but finds instead of a kiss, Rito is hugging her tightly.

"Haruna, I think we need to break up," Rito whispers into her ear, "A lot has changed in seven months, and I think, even though it was a misunderstanding, the relationship between you and eye can't remain romantic." He pulls back, and finds that Haruna is smiling a bit, wiping a stray tear from her eye. "Let me explain," Rito states, and Haruna nods in response, "Lala has been on Earth for three years now, and my relationship hasn't grown with her- first it was because I loved you, but now I realize that our relationship hasn't grown since I fell in love with you in Middle School..." Haruna bites her lip in response to that, but keeps silent. "Haruna, I am engaged to Lala, and as her Fiance, she is expected to marry me by the beginning of summer," Rito states calmly, "I find that I do love her, but King Gid has asked for proof that I love her, and to do this I must approach any potential love interests I've had over the past three years, and I must ask them to revoke any feelings they had for me."

Haruna nods, and lets him continue. "I was just trying to explain this to Momo, when you interrupted and she ran out, but I hope you will let me finish," Rito asks of his long time love interest, his first girlfriend, "Haruna, you may reject my attempt at dissolving our relationship, but know by rejecting it, you will be put into the running as an enemy of Lala, and be allowed to contest for my love and Lala's position in the Deviluke Empire, but risk the chance of lose of life, or exile from the Milky Way and all of Deviluke space." Haruna opens her mouth in shock at this, before closing it and nodding shyly. "Haruna, despite the deep connection I've felt towards you all these years, as my first love, I ask you, I plead of you, please reject any love you've felt for me," Rito states, a tear catching in his eye, as his heart wrenches for having to ask this of her, after she had he had confessed their love for each other, "When King Gid comes to you, to ask if you have forsaken any love for me, please give him truthful testimony; please, Haruna, do not hate me for asking this from you, I truly hope we can remain friends..." He waits, his head hung low, expecting her to slap him, laugh him off, or run like Momo did, from the truth.

Haruna merely pulls him into another hug, and Rito can say he is truly surprised by it. "I'm so happy for you Rito, for making your choice!" she states, crying happy tears onto his shoulder, "Of course we'll still be friends, _baka_ , how could I ever give up a kind, selfless, and stupid friend like you?" She pulls away and smiles brightly, a tear falling from her left eye. She wipes it away and chuckles at her heightened state on emotion. "It's funny, I've been trying to figure out a reason why to visit you, and then you go and get yourself hurt, and I have to hear it from Yami, of all people!" she states, to Rito's confusion, "Rito, I've been wanting to break up with you too!" Rito gives pause at this, but lets her speak. "I- well, once I moved to Shukufuru, I was shy, because I hadn't made any friends, but then someone I knew from Sainan High showed up one day, and joined my school!" she blushes as she thinks back, and shyly looks up at Rito, "You may f-find it funny, b-but I fell in love with R-Ren Elsie J-Jewelria~"

Rito's jaw opens in shock, and he can't help but stare with blank eyes at the smiling Haruna Sairenji. He had to, no he _NEEDED_ , to hear the story behind this!


	18. I've Run Out of Chances

_Disclaimer: Disclaimed all ownership of To Love Ru_

 _I am, truthfully, not sorry about how this chapter ends. Hate me, love me, leave a review for me..._

 _There's a purpose for all my madness!_

* * *

 _Four Months Ago_

Haruna moves her hair out of her face, once again, having forgotten her hair clip in her locker between classes. She sighs, as she eats her lunch under the lone tree she found shade under, as she watches the other kids in Shurufuku High bunch together in their cliques and clubs. She hadn't successfully made a friend, yet, and everyone who learned she came from Sainan, acted like stuck up snobs and rich socialites when they heard she came from the backwater town known for its troublesome nature. So, she ate lunch alone and in silence, as her days passed by with little to no excitement in them.

At least back in Sainan she had friends who weren't that strange, and even Saki who was a rich girl, acted half as snobbish as the kids around here. Suddenly, she found a shadow over her head, and she looks up to see herself blinded by the sun, as an object suddenly impacts in front of her. Dust fly's up into her lunch, clods of earth and grass splatter against her white t-shirt, and Haruna screams out in shock and surprise. When the dust settles she finds a small looking ball, that reads ~7kg. She recognizes the offending instrument, as the school track teams shot put.

"Look out!" a mascular voice calls out, and Haruna looks up to see another shadowy form stand in front of her, her view blinded by the sun once more, "Haruna Sairenji?" When she blinks, and her eyes adjust to the light, she sees the familiar face of Ren Elsie Jewleria, the Memorzean Prince, who Haruna thought still went to Sainan High. "Wow, how odd to see you out here, I knew Ren was gloating about your mysterious disappearance, but to find you going to Shurufuku High?" Ren says, smiling, "Small world, isn't it; it's probably great to see another friendly face, I bet?" Haruna nods, as she just stares at the boy in his gym clothes. She sees he's dressed in a loose, sleeveless t-shirt, glistening with sweat, on a cold winters day. She partly wonders why he is dressed down so casually, as she figures that any sane person would be wearing something resembling winter clothing. He looks and realizes she was staring, before giving her an awkward smile.

"Sorry, I guess when I used the shot put, I put a little bit too much of my manly strength in it," Ren replies, bending down to retrieve the object embedded in the ground, "Earth's gravity is so much lighter, compared to Memoraze, I forget my own strength some time-" Ren stops as he begins to stand back up, realizing that Haruna's lunch was tossed to the ground, half covered by mud and grass, and Ren realized, so was Haruna. "Oh no, did I ruin your school uniform, and your lunch?" Ren was genuinely embarrassed at that, before picking off a stray clod of grass and dirt off of Haruna's shoulder, "Let's get you to the nurse, and get you a new set of clothes; I'll even by you some Pan to replace your lunch, because I think regular lunch time is over..." Haruna merely blushes, as she realizes that Ren is really close, and really, really hot. She moves her hand to his head, and realizes that he was incredibly warm, and clearly with fever.

"Ren, why are you out here in gym shorts and a t-shirt, playing around with a shot-put when it's clearly nine degrees Celsius out here?" Haruna states, grabbing the boy by the arm, "We're both going to the nurse, and you're getting changed into something warmer that those shorts and that ridiculous gym shirt!" Ren tries to pull away, but finds himself unable to do so, sighing as she pulls him along. When they make it to the nurses office, she manages to find some spare clothes in her size, stating she can wash them and return them as soon as she can, and has the Memorzean get into the bed so the Nurse could take his temperature. He obliged, grudgingly, but she found that his temperature was only a few degrees above normal, something the alien boy insisted was normal for him.

"I'm fine, Sairenji, Memorzean's are naturally cold-blooded, but just barely compared to a human," he states in his defense, "It's a desert planet, jsut becasue it's a little bit colder here in the winter, doesn't mean I'll get a c-c-ACHOO!" Suddenly caught sniffling, Haruna raises an eyebrow and hands him a box of tissues. "F-fine-" he states, "I may have woken up with a little bit of a fever, but when they wanted us to get ready for gym, I just felt so hot in sweatpants and the long-sleeved shirt, so I had to switch to my shorts and that t-shirt!" Haruna merely sighs, before shaking her head at the Memorzean.

"Besides that, what are you even doing here?" Haruna asks, and the Memorzean turns to her with a look of confusion, "Shouldn't you and Run be finishing up your courses at Sainan High, with Lala-hime and Rito-san?" Ren merely sniffles, before going for another tissue and blowing his runny nose.

"I'm afraid I transferred into this school alone, two months ago, we just hadn't come across each other yet, I suppose," Ren states, "Run didn't even notice me leave, and I doubt she cared between her idol lifestyle and sole fascination with stealing Rito from Lala!" Haruna cocked her head at that, but let the boy continue on his rant at his sister. "That harpy can't sing a tune into a bucket at home, people just ogle her body, let me tell you!" he states, "She only became famous,, cause she hoped to attract Rito, and ever since we split, all she ever has done was ignore me when I'm at home, gush over what Rito did to her that day, or complain how some creepy fan stalked out her and Kyouko!" The Memorzean was red in the face, his anger flaring up, and Haruna quickly realized he was becoming delirious from his cold.

Suddenly Ren found a cool washcloth on his forehead, as Haruna quickly pushed him back down onto the bed, as gently as she could. She sighed as Ren tried to struggle, but a flick to his forehead stilled the anxious child. "You need to rest, Ren," Haruna states, "I'll come back to check in between classes, but you're acting up because of your head cold..." Ren sighs, but settles down as Haruna starts to leave.

"I did mean it though, about Run not even noticing that I left," he calls out, "I told her I wanted to get away from Lala, because she made her choice clear to me over the summer... my own sister just shrugged me off, and hasn't called me once since I moved here..." Haruna looks back, surprised at this last little outburst from Ren, and she smiles sadly at him in return.

"You know what, Ren, I think moving out from under your sister's shadow is a good thing," she says, pausing at the door, "You've always been a strong character, you have a good heart, and you always made your intentions clear, unlike Run; I think once she realizes you've become independent of her, she might just treat you with the respect you deserve!" Ren smiles a little bit at that, and he closes his eyes as Haruna walks out the door. Her cheeks are tinged pink, at saying something so bold about one of her former friends, but she smiles a bit. It had felt good, maybe she could talk with Ren a bit more, in the future.

 _Present Day_

"So, after that, we slowly began to open up to each other," Haruna says, sitting next to Rito on his bed, "After a while, he began to tell me about his life on Memorze, his time with Lala, how his sister liked to sleep with cucumbers and a facial mask every night before a big gig, and I slowly told him about how lonely I was, how you hadn't even called me once, or made any move to visit me." She sighs, as she twirls a stray lock of hair from her head. "Now that I realize Momo never told you about me, it's a little bit more assuring to know you didn't forget about me," Haruna states, "But, then I started making friends with Ren, then some of the people he knew that weren't all rich or stuck up, and we found we had a lot in common between our lost love; eventually he and I just clicked, and he asked me to the school dance just last week, which is why I was shopping for a dress when I came across Yami-chan..."

Rito sighs, realizing with a happy smile that he had inadvertently pushed Haruna away, and into the arms of his once self proclaimed rival for Lala's affections. Perhaps it was just Rito's luck that he lost the girl of his dreams to the man who wanted nothing more than to prove he had more testosterone than a male bull. But Ren sounded like he had changed, and more than just in his affections for Lala, and this was enough to satisfy his curiosity. Truthfully, he hadn't even noticed Ren's absence, but then again he seemed to have become less and less important in Rito's wacky life, as Run trued to push herself more and more into Rito's field of vision. He would have to make it up to Ren, somehow, for making Haruna happy, but for now Rito realized he needed to make up his priorities.

"So, are you going after Momo?" Haruna asked, as if reading his mind, "She'll be hurt, and angry, but I think she'll eventually understand." Rito sighs, and nods, but shakes his head in response.

"No, I think you're right, I need to let Momo cool down," Rito says, "She's- she'll need time, Momo isn't one to take this lightly..." Rito sighs and puts a hand through his hair. "I've always tried to put her off, and she never took no for an answer," Rito continues, "I think I'll have to cool down, when I get a chance to talk to her." Haruna smiles sympathetically at him, putting her hand to his shoulder.

"Tell me, is Yami-chan still around here?" Rito asks Haruna, changing the subject, "I think I'll try and tell her about all that's going on with me and Lala first, then I'll deal with Momo." Haruna nods, and follows Rito out of his room, as they travel down the stairs to the living room. He could hear yelling as they descended, and Rito was surprised to see a flustered Kotegawa, a sheepish Lala, a starry eyed Saruyama, a confused looking boy who Rito couldn't place, and a neutral looking Yami, standing or sitting around the living room.  
"Rito!" Yui yells, upon seeing Rito walking down with Haruna, "What was that light, did you blow up again, what shameless thing were you doing with Sairenji in your room?" Yui shouts all of this at Rito, before pausing and turning to see Haruna. "Haruna-chan?" She states confused, "I thought you were supposed to have moved to Shurufuku?" She doesn't wait for an answer, though, as she whirls on Rito again. "And you, why did Momo suddenly rush out of the door as we were coming up?" She asks, "She looked like she just had her heart broken, by some perverted act you caused, no doubt!" Rito sucks in a breath through his teeth, and Yui suddenly opens her eyes at this. Haruna puts and arm on Rito's shoulder, but he brushes it off with a smile.  
"Yeah, it was because of me, Yui," Rito states, gripping his hand just a little too tightly, "But I'm going to make it right, just... not now." Yui softens up, realizing she had pushed him just a bit to hard after seeing Haruna's wary gaze. "I think before I try, I need to speak to Yami," Rito states, looking in Yami's direction, before turning to the other's in the room, "Alone, if you please?" They look around at each other, Lala, Yui, and Saruyama, while Yami and the unknown kid start whispering to each other. Before Rito, or anyone, questions what was going on, Yami leans in and kisses the other man on the cheek, causing the young man to blush across his entire face.

"I'll be fine, Kuro," she states loud enough for the others to hear, "Join Lala-hime and the others in the Kitchen and help make dinner; Mikan will probably too shocked to make anything with everything that's happened tonight." Still blushing furiously, Rito watches this 'Kuro' character follow the others into the kitchen. Once they were gone, Yami turns to Rito with a quirked brow. "If you must speak to me alone, please be aware that you are still my target, Rito Yuuki, and I will not hesitate to retaliate if you try anything perverted," she states, and Rito just looks at her like she is crazy, "Don't give me that look, Rito Yuuki, your emotional imbalance causes heightened responses of unintentional, unwarranted, and frankly perverted, bodily contact." Rito merely closes his eyes at that, knowing that she was all too right.

Keeping his hands to himself, and slightly stepping back from Yami to give her distance, Rito clears his throat to begin speaking to her. "Yami-chan, I know that I am currently your 'target', but I wanted to inform you that I have been made aware of some 'issues' that I need to resolve, regarding myself and Lala," he begins, "As Lala is currently my Fiancee, I have been requested to inform all, potential, love interests of a requirement asked by King Gid." He coughs, trying ot cover up his nerves and the thoughts of Yami flaying him with her hair turned into swords, he finds his voice again. "I've been asked to break off all contact viewed in a romantic variety, and inform these women that it would be best for them to renounce their love for me, and reject any intentions they previously had towards me," he states, "As Devilukean rule permits, and under Gid's decree, any women who does not reject me can contend for Lala's position and life, and facing the consequences of loss, possible death or exile from all of Deviluke territory, to the Milky Way Galaxy itself." Yami nods at this, and Rito gulps.

"So far I've managed to dissuade anyone from contesting their love for me, except as you now know, Momo," Rito states, looking down at his feet, "I want you, please, to consider this a rejection of my feelings, as Lala's fiance, and if asked by King Gid, please provide testimony of your rejection of any feelings of love towards me!" Getting on his hands and knees, as if begging for his life, he waits for the blade to drop. When he peeks up out of one of his closed eyes, he finds Yami comfortably sitting down, crossing her legs and obscuring any indecent views from his position. He sighs and stands up, happy that she hadn't cut him to ribbons yet, but unable to tell by the look of her face what she was thinking.

"Yuuki Rito, I would like to thank you for being honest with me, and for being honest with the other girls, too," Yami begins, and Rito looks to her as she speaks, "I have known from the first time I met you, and the fact that you offered me taiyaki, that you were a kind, gentle and generous boy; I will gladly provide testimony on your behalf, as my feelings for you have grown beyond infatuation." Rito smiles a bit at the happy memory, and feels a little bit better at Yami's praise and acceptance of the situation. "I also am aware from constant surveillance of your actions and attitude, as well as being a victim of your accidental perverse tendencies, that you are not being very true to yourself," she continues, and Rito's face falls, "If King Gid decreed that you were to marry Lala, would it not be out of mere duty that you do so?" Rito looks up at her, his face puzzled.

"Yami-chan, what are you saying?" he asks. The living weapon merely closes her eyes and puts her hands together in her lap. Rito doesn't know what she is doing, but then she begins to speak again.

"Yuuki Rito, you have been a constant companion to Lala Satalin Deviluke since the day I came to Earth, and the weeks prior to that," Yami replies, "In that time, it was only last year that you truly realized your feelings for both Haruna and Lala, in the months following that revelation, you were proven to still be indecisive and flaky in your conviction at best." Rito feels like he can't sink into the ground any lower, so he opts to take a seat on the nearest chair and will some alien to assassinate him. "Now, seven months ago you started into a long, spiraling depression regarding the mysterious absence of Haruna Sairenji, a woman you profess to have loved since Middle School, even if the feelings hadn't been returned until recently," Yami continues, "Now, you have been forced into a situation by the King of Deviluke, a man whose tested your seriousness towards Lala by threatening your home, your planet before, and it seems he is employing such tactics again, if not to satisfy his own selfish needs, then to supply his eldest daughter with the happiness he believes she deserves..."

Rito doesn't really know where the Living Weapon is going with this, but he continues to listen. "Rito, what I am trying to say is this, are you sure you truly love Lala?" Rito raises his eyes and sees Yami's leveled gaze towards him, "You're trying to make everyone happy, you're trying to please a King who could destroy your planet with his bare hands, you are trying to become a man worthy of Lala's seemingly boundless love..." Yami teeters off, sighing and looking into her hands as she does so. "Did you ever think you've convinced yourself you'd be happy, by making the wrong choices in life?" Yami states, "Lala originally suggested that you and Haruna could become happy by becoming King of Deviluke and allowing a polygamous marriage, Momo merely tried to expand it by adding in all the girls she thought you would be happy with, even if you professed to hate the idea..." Rito's heart is beating hast, anxiety starting to bubble in the pit of his stomach as he hears her words.

"Do you really think you'll be happy by doing what others say is best for your happiness?" Yami asks, "Did you ever wonder, despite your selfless and often martyr-like tendencies, that maybe you would be happier giving in, to your perverted nature, to the fact you really want Haruna, Lala, Momo, Nana, Me, and who knows who else-" At that Rito can't take it anymore, and he slams his fist onto the nearest object he could.

"I don't want that!" Rito yells, his fist shattering wood under impact due to his enhanced strength, "I've been called a pervert, a delinquent, and a weakling for far too long!" Rito stands, and pushes back his chair in the process. "Lala was a misunderstanding, she was a bothersome problem that wouldn't go away, sure, maybe because I once loved Haruna, but the frickin' world wouldn't ever let me get near the one- read it one- girl I had truly loved because she had defended my reputation!" Rito points a finger in a very angry gesture, "I tried confessing to Haruna for years, and then Lala shows up and throws herself all over me."

He runs his hand through his hair, and tries not to stress out too much. "and at first, I hated it, I didn't understand what she saw in the perverted loser, who couldn't even stop himself from accidentally groping girls and women in front of her," he states, belittling himself, "Not to mention- not to mention- her Chibi-father, who personally held that fact that he was King of the goddamn universe over my head, constantly reminding me he wanted nothing more than to steamroll earth into space dust, because his renegade daughter fell in love with a [B]weak loser!" Rito doesn't realize it, but the air around him is beginning to darken.

"Then, you show up, threaten me every day of my goddamn life, because I happen to see your panties, because I can't control the wind from flipping your, frankly, too short skirt up," he states, turning around away from Yami, "Then every day of my life following, somehow one of Lala's suitors, or other bounty hunters, show up and mess up the town, aim to kill me, or plan to kidnap Lala, my sister, you, in some generally outlandish and ridiculous way, that probably is normal in outer space, and I'm the one who ends up getting beat up day in and day out by my 'so called friends'." Rito is positively fuming as he speaks, and Yami waits patiently, her face neutral. "Then, not only does Gid want me to prove my worth to him, either by winning or forfeiting the Earth, I manage to win and prove myself worthy of the one woman who truly seems to have begun to understand me, only to be forced into an impromptu marriage at too young an age," he fumes, "I then get the most caring, inventive, most loving girl, wanting to woo me the way I wooed her, and she not only manages to screw up wiping everyone's memories in an attempt to start over, but manages to show me how far she was willing to go to prove her love for me!"

Lala is crying from the kitchen entryway, as Kuro holds back Nana and her form entering merely choosing to watch and see what the fuss was about. She had heard the negative things, when he blew up in frustration and pent up anger, she had assumed that some of it was her cause. Haruna, too was crying, but she recognized that in between Rito's complaints in his outburst, he was complimenting Lala, showing that even angry he didn't have much to say.

"Then Nana and Momo come into the picture, and they seem so sweet and nice, Lala's perfect younger sisters, who seem to just want to skip their royal duties and hang out with their runaway sister, but- but!" Rito turns, a crazed look in his face, as if laughing at his own joke, "They both begin to show their true natures, Nana is relatively competent, a bit naive about Earth culture, if not a bit prudish and overprotective, but then again they are both supposed to be sheltered princess', spoiled daughters; no, it's Momo, who is my main problem, who's been the instigator of who knows how many misunderstood situations, that frankly just compound onto my innumerous amount of insecurities and sexual frustrations, because she tries to throw me into explicit situations, including not only her, but almost every other girl I know!"

His hand seems to be smoking as he yells, though he pays no mind to it, as he continues on this massive rant. "Did you know, she once tried to hook me up with Mikan, my own sister, because her sexual fantasies are comparable to some NEET's adult visual novel, where fantasies blur with reality," he yells, "I didn't ask for her love, I didn't _expect_ her to throw me a curve ball, stating that she loved me; I've since recognized it for the jealousy it was, she was envious that Lala found love with a simple loser, she just wants to use me, like all the people who want me dead, she just wanted to get in my pants, and in her own twisted way, find the same happiness with me that Lala did!" He puts his arms down, and the dark aura surrounding him seems to drain out of him, his anger seemingly dying.

"I'm just so much done with it, with her bull, she never loved me- Haruna once loved me, but because Momo kept her mouth shut, I never knew she was still interested, and she moved on..." Rito sinks to his knees as he talks, "I still don't get why Lala loves me, I don't see that kind, brave, gentle boy she did all those years ago, all I see is a messed up loser who people want either want to use and throw away, or step all over me and end my life, so they could get with Lala, the sweetest, most innocent, carefree, lovable, loyal, truly kind-" He stops talking, as he feels strong arms wrap comfortably around him. He feels hands wiping away at the tears staining his face, tears he didn't even know he had, for himself, for Lala.

"It's okay, Rito, _it's okay_ ," Lala states, hugging him gently, putting her lips to his neck and kissing him, "I love you, Rito, know that I don't want to lose you, everyone here cares for you, in their own way." Rito is just mute, but he hears the door open, and numbly hears Mikan speak to other people in the house. He doesn't hear specifics, though, because he's focusing on the soothing words that Lala is speaking in his ears. " _Shhh_ , Rito, I don't care what you used to think, I don't care about who you used to love, I meant it when I said I loved you," she states softly, "You've sacrificed your happiness because of my father, you lost your love because of my sister, I'm sorry I can't make it up to you for them, but..." Rito hangs onto her every word, feeling the touch of her skin, like she was lightening the dark emotions he had been feeling with every kiss of her lips. "But I love you, Yuuki Rito, love like ours is true, and I'm sure you've recognized that by now as well," she continues, "Don't worry if you can't express it, because let me show you how much I love you!" She turns him around, grasping both of his hands in hers, and pulls him into a deep, tender kiss.

When Rito opens his eyes, all he sees are the aquamarine pools of joy staring back, sparking from the electric kiss the two just passionately shared in front of onlookers. Feeling happiness and warmth from the kiss, he smiles dumbly and steps away from Lala to look around the room. "Sorry, everyone," he states to the no longer empty room, featuring Mikan, Nana, Kuro, and Yami, "I think I just needed to get everything off my chest; because I sure do feel better now!" Everyone isn't looking at him, though, as they point to Lala's hands. "What?" Rito asks, as he turns back to Lala, "Is there something wrong-" Rito opens his eyes wide, as he sees Lala staring at her hands. Sparking between her fingertips, is the very same energy that Rito gave off, before it begins to dim as Lala stares entranced by the Dark Matter energy. Rito almost recoils in shock, as Lala begins to lick her hand in pleasure, seemingly sucking the energy from her fingertips and gorging on it. Licking her fingers clean, she turns back to Rito, as if coming out of a daze.

"What?" she asks, "It looked so tasty?" Rito merely palms his face at her honesty. This was another strange mystery regarding Rito, it seemed, and he hoped it wasn't going to become a problem.

"Hmmn, could this day get any worse?" Rito asks no one in particular, "First Momo blows up in my face, then I confess my desire to break up with Haruna, and now this?" The others in the room don't know what to say, but Lala hugs him in response. "Yeah, thank you Lala, thank you Yami, for listening to me rant," Rito states, a bit disheartened at blowing up like that, disappointed that he let anger take over his mouth, "I hope you all can overlook what I said, I've just been stressed ever since I learned Gid was practically forcing me into this with Lala, I knew I was going to meet resistance from Momo- I just never thought-" At this Nana crosses her arms and speaks up, causing Rito to stop wallowing in self pity.

"That girl is stubborn like our father, she has a short temper like him too, sometimes worse than me," Nana retaliates, "She's a narcissistic, spoiled princess, and we're both still kids despite our attitudes." She sighs, and puts a hand to her forehead. "She's so thin skinned, she's so like Mom, when she can't take no for an answer; she just tries to force it on the object of her desire, which is why she was so insistent with you, Rito," Nana states, "Growing up on Deviluke we always got what we wanted, Daddy always made sure we got the best, and no one ever told us no; that's the difference between Royalty and Common folk, everything was yes with us, whereas you had to grow up making hard decisions, you learned how to take no for an answer." Lala nods as well, Rito can't help but sadly smile.

"It's ironic, I truly do want her to find happiness, don't get me wrong," he states, "I don't hate her, or anything remotely like that, but she does need to learn." Lala beams and hugs Rito tightly. "It's kind of ironic, really, when you think about all the trouble she caused me too," he states, "If she hadn't pushed me into all those uncomfortable circumstances and situations, I would probably be still passing out every time I managed to stumble upon a naked girl...which, _uhm_ , wasn't very often..." Nana lightly punches him on the shoulder, with a smile.

"Maybe this will be a learning experience, Rito," Lala states, "You taught me a lot about Earth customs and ideas, maybe she can learn from your rejection the same way she taught you to become bolder." Rito nods, hoping that the youngest Deviluke sister could do that much.

 _Meanwhile_

' _Rito_ ,' Momo thought, as she fought the encroaching darkness at the field of her vision, ' _Help me!_ ' She feels yet another kick to her ribs, as one of the two men assaulting her attacks again. ' _Lala, Celine_ ,' she thinks, struggling to think through her clouding thoughts, ' _Mikan, Nana-_ ' She tries to look over at the third man, the one who had tried to save her. He looked so beaten, and bloody, his eye was probably going to be black and swollen when he woke up, but the damage he inflicted on her two attackers had been evident as well. Suddenly the two men dropped like rag dolls, and Momo thought she was saved.

The silence was deafening, as the click of heels sounded through the side alley filled with rotten trash and piled high garbage cans, flats of cardboard heaped all around as well. "Well, that boy put up a valiant effort for you, Momo Belia Deviluke," the crisp voice states, an icy undertone laced to it, "Too bad these two were enhanced by my psychokinesis." The beautifully, cruel form of Azenda the Tyrant, kneels down to hover over Momo's bruised face, smiling viciously as she does so. "You weren't the one I was aiming for, sorry dear," Azenda states clearly, "But, you'll have to do." Grabbing Momo ruffly by the hair, Azenda's cruel laugh echoed through the chill of the night.


	19. Interlude Pt4:Back to Lala's Future, Pt2

_Disclaimer: I own not To Love Ru._

 _Ten Years Into the Future_

Lala Satalin Deviluke awoke to the feeling of plush pillows, the softest silk sheets she had ever felt produced, and the ever-present feeling of weightlessness she had associated with space travel. Opening her eyes, to adjust them against the harsh, mechanical lighting, she was presently surprised to find that there was a change of clothes and a basin of water to wash herself with, located nearby. Stepping up and out of bed, she didn't hesitate to strip herself and enjoy the pleasure of feeling lukewarm water against her skin. She even found something that was similar to soap and shampoo, and quickly to advantage of these luxuries she had admittedly forgone while stuck in the past. It wasn't that it was lacking, rather that the time spent building a way home consumed her personal life.

Suddenly she was surprised by sharp knocking, and she quickly covered herself with a nearby towel, as a hooded figure entered her room. "Ah, I see you are awake," the hooded figure speaks, obviously a young, but older than Lala, woman with chestnut-brown, shoulder length hair, "I hope the garments fit you, I couldn't tell how old you were, so I went with as appropriate a measurement as I thought would fit and accent your body." The woman speaks with a familiar tone, quite happy to see Lala awake and about, though Lala is unfamiliar with the woman.

"I'm sorry, could you tell me how I got here, why we are in space?" Lala asks, "Could you inform me what the current Devilukean, or Earth year, it is?" The woman smiles underneath her hood, as Lala cannot clearly see her face beneath it. She takes the towel Lala was using to cover herself with, then forces her into a sitting position. Taking the washcloth from Lala, she wets it and begins to wash the Devilukean girl's back.

"Currently it is the Eighth year of the new King of Deviluke, following his succession of the title held by the former King Gid," she states, as she soothingly washes Lala's back, "Currently the Earth year would be about ten or nine years from your present, our past, Lady Lala." Lala perks up at the title, but realizes that whoever was King obviously had taken herself as Queen. To refer to your current head of state wife's, past self as their current title, would no doubt me more of a headache than necessary. Just knowing her future self was no doubt older, unnerved her as well. She honestly didn't know if she would even be here, seeing that by not returning to her present, she might not have returned to their past to let their future roll out the way it was intended to, as her lack of activity in it made this future both uncertain and yet alternately her future? It was all too much of a headache for her sleepy brain to handle, without food to get her brain moving into overtime with plans to make a way to return home.

"You must be thinking very hard, to have ignored me for this long, Lala-sama," the woman states, "I'm done, so it's best you get dressed, or else you let the chill of the ship cause you to get sick before you even make it to the breakfast table!" The motherly tone to her voice sounds achingly familiar to Lala, but she can't even begin to place it, before she is dressed and hurried out the door. Following the hooded woman, who takes the lead, she finds herself in front of double doors made of the finest designs she had ever seen. She recognizes the carvings as Deviluke design, which assures her that this ship belonged to the Deviluke Empire, that was no doubt.

Entering the room, she finds herself alone, standing before an elongated table that stretched a good twenty feet long. It appeared to be made of wood, and strapped to the deck by metal support structures drilled into its underside and connected to the floor. Taking a seat at the only chair set up with silverware and plates, she sits and waits patiently for someone to come. In less than two minutes, she is joined by a man who must be the chef, for he puts a platter in front of her, but smacks her hand as she reaches for the lid. Seconds latter the door opens again, just as the chef disappears into the kitchen through an invisible door, and Lala turns to see a quite frightening appearance. A young girl, barely five years old by the looks of it, enters the room with a sewn doll that bares an eerie resemblance to Celine, minus the button eyes the doll has. What was shocking though, was the blue, curly hair that topped her head, a bright smile on her face as she stared at her with a curious gaze and a childlike smile. Wide, orange eyes, Lala noticed.

"Mama?" she states, more than asks, "You look like her, but you'wr not Mama!" The girl walks up to Lala, pulls the seat next to hers out, and climbs onto it, and huffs as she attempts to scoot the giant chair in. Lala smiles and pushes the girl towards the table, as the chef returns with another plate of food, dropping it off for the little girl. "You here for bweakfast?" she asks, tilting her small head towards Lala, "I hwope its banacakes, or st'waberwy whuffles!" Lala can't help but hold her hand to her lips, fighting back the snicker at the child's lisp. She noticed she had lost her front tooth, which obviously accounted for the child's hindered speech, seemingly a bright girl who had a wide vocabulary.

"I believe I was invited," Lala states, "Though I don't know who's hosting it; would it, perhaps, be your father and mother?" The girl blinks at Lala, before shrugging her shoulders. The door opens yet again, and this time an older, pink haired girl walks in. The seven or eight year old child blinks at Lala's presence next to the younger blue-haired girl, before shrugging and sitting down at the little girl's opposite side. Lala noticed that this girl was eerily familiar to him, and what was striking about her, was her cool, purple eyes. "Hello!" Lala says cheerily, "My name is-"

"Lala Satalin Deviluke, I know, you're our dead Aunt," the girls states harshly, causing Lala to frown at her harsh words, "I don't know why you came back now, but you should run while you have the chance..." Before she could question the girls words, yet another figure entered the room, as the chef set a platter down in front of the newest girl. Unlike the shock the children gave her, this one was truly terrifying. Covered in black armor from head to toe, a wicked looking tail of gold floating lazily behind him, this new figure approached them, taking a seat at the head of the table.

"Good morning, Lady Lala," the imposing figure speaks, "Good morning, my little plum, my ocean breeze." Lala watches as the little girl beams at the nickname, and how the older girl stared in open disdain at the man, before making the connection between the three. "Yes, Lala, Uwe, the purple eyed child, is mine," the man states, "As is Manami, my youngest daughter, the girl who sits next to you." Lala watches as the man turns his attention to Uwe. "I see you're having another 'bad day', my dear," the mysterious man states, "Why don't you say hello to your Aunt Lala,it isn't everyday that the dead come back to life!" The pink haired girl merely stares in contempt at the man in front of her, before he puts his arm to her shoulder. "There, there, my little plum, all this darkness inside you, these negative feelings..." he states, "Well, they're just rude in front of our guest..." His hand begins to glow around the child's arm, before an aura of darkness seems to seep out from the child, before being drawn away and into the man's hand.

"Ahh," he states, an air of satisfaction in his tone, "There we go, don't you wish to properly introduce yourself to your Aunt Lala now?" The girl's face is drawn tight, before turning to Lala with a smile on it. Lala is a little unnerved at the sight, as she notices the girl seems to have lost the luster in her eyes.

"Welcome, Aunt Lala," she states, her voice sounding hollow, "Enjoy your food, Papa made it especially for you!" The child then removes the lid to her platter, along with Manami's, before digging into the dish before her. The older girl seemed to have some form of poultry with a sauce covering it, while the little girl had strawberry topped pancakes and a glass of milk. Lala removed the lid to hers, and was surprised to find something quite odd about her breakfast. It was one of Lala's favorite breakfast meals, specially made with Mikan's tender, loving care and eye for detail. There was even what appeared to be dark matter seasoning to the side, to add flavor to the dish.

"Mikan made it, just for you, no doubt," the man states, interrupting Lala's thoughts, "She probably took over the cook's duties, and made this especially for you, Lala." Lala turns to look at the man, whose face and voice is still shrouded by the helmet he wore ever since sitting down to the table. "It's funny, she hasn't cooked for years, at least not for me," he states, looking at Lala, "I would eat every bite up, you'll probably want to enjoy that gourmand, dark matter seasoning too, she probably stole it just for you." Lala was too unnerved by all this now, and she quickly backed out of her seat and away from the table and the people eating at it.

"Who, what, are you?" Lala asks, "What do you know about Mikan? What did you do to your daughter? What are you going to do about me?" She can't see it, but she can tell the man is smirking underneath his helmet. She should be afraid, confused by all this change and unfamiliar people, but she strangely feels so calm, calmer than she knows she should be.

'Alright, Lala, I guess you deserve to see who I am," the King states, "My people and subjects call me the Harem King, my family calls me Husband or Father, but you may call me..." He goes for the helmet, putting his hands on it, removing the heavy object with a hiss of air.

 _Nine Years Ago_

The fire raged around them, as Azenda laughed at his misfortune. He could only stare in horror at the blood on his blade, as it slowly trailed down from the tip, over the handle, and onto Rito's hands. The tip wedged into the body of the one he loved, now dying on the floor. "No!" he cries out, "LALA!" Removing the his hands from the blade, he grabs her as she collapses to the floor, and into his arms. "Lala..." he cries out, tears staining his cheeks, "No, please..." She smiles at him, putting her hand to his face as the light in her eyes begin to fade. Her lips move, but Rito doesn't hear anything, but he knows she speaks. Closing his arms around her, he brings her closer to him, not caring as her blood mixes with his tears of sorrow.

' ** _Rito..._** ' a voice whispers in his ear, ' ** _You have fed the blade... you have awakened my power, take it for yourself._** ' Rito tries to ignore the pain, trying his damndest to stop Lala from bleeding out, ignoring the hauntingly familiar voice. ' _ **Rito, I Hunger; you will feed Me,**_ ' the voice states soothingly, dulling the pain in Rito's heart, _**'Azenda will pay, they will All pay... you just have to Feed Me!**_ ' Rito sees Lala's eyes have glazed over, unseeing and emotionless. His heart breaks, and he feels the anger and the sadness begin to boil in the pit of his stomach.

Rito lets the limp thing fall from his grasp, choosing to turn to the sword. The voice is calling to him, from within, within himself. He grasps the sword, and all sense of his former humanity begins to burn away at his touch, as the Dark Matter begins to bubble up from within him. The power he cast aside, restored and enhanced by contact with the bloodied blade, as the feelings within Rito manifest through the pores of his skin, corrupting him from within. Rito Yuuki is no more...

The monster raises it's flaming blade, basked in the glorious purple, the unholy light of the void. He turns his soulless gaze to Azenda and her puppets, and for the first time since coming to Earth, she truly feels fear. After all, no woman could escape the wrath of the man, once known as Rito Yuuki.

When the carnage was over, Azenda's decapitated body burned to ashes and cinders, along with her enslaved puppets, the former Rito Yuuki overlooks the burning remnants of his town. Azenda and her partner had reduced Sainan to rubble, and the few buildings that still stood, were still crumbling. Haruna, Yui, Saruyama, Rin, Tearju-sensei, Celine; they had all been caught in the crossfire and killed, one by one, in front of his eyes. Then Lala was brought out before him, the broken shell that he was by that point, recognizing the girl he had been promised to marry. She had ended up slain by his own hands, not willingly, of course, but as another one of Azenda's cruel machinations via manipulation by her Psychokinesis.

Hearing the crackle of footsteps among the ruins of the burning town, the man once known as Rito turns to see who dares approach him. Looking as defiant as ever, Kuro the former assassin Black, stares Rito down, brandishing his gun. "You told me I was wrong, 'my King'" he mocks, loading his gun with one last bullet, "You said you had it under control, but I should have known better!" The man formerly known as Yuuki Rito merely stares down the former assassin, the man in worse shape than he let on, if the bleeding from his skull was any indication. He and Yami both had been the targets of the first assault, after all. "I hoped you were right, Rito," Kuro says, locking his barrel into place and setting the lone shot up, "You made me promise to use this, if you ever lost control; you've slaughtered your 'right' to the throne of Deviluke, by my count, that means you've lost control..." Aiming his weapon, lining up his shot, Kuro pulls the trigger. A shot rings out.

By the time his body hits the ground, Kuro's hand releases the trigger, having failed to fire his last shot in time. Rito's smoking finger is put away, done having mimed the gun that killed Kuro dead. But Rito Yuuki had also died that day. Kuro had given him a name, a new title as his cross to bear. They had killed his friends, his family, and his loved ones that remained on Earth. All except the one girl...

He found her cradling her sister's dead body, having obviously stumbled upon the wreckage of the house and town, after exiting Azenda's now empty ship. He didn't want her to see this, this wasn't her cross, her guilt, to bear. It was the King's. She shouldn't be sad, he couldn't bear it, so he would make her happy. He would giver her what she always wanted: a Harem where everyone would be happy.

Rito Yuuki died that day, with his Fiancee Lala Satalin Deviluke.

Long live the newly crowned, 'Harem King'.  
Long, may he reign!

 ** _On that day Yuuki Rito died._**

 ** _I had won his life._**

 _Lala's Present_

The face and voice of an elder Yuuki Rito stares back at Lala, and she can only smile in realization that he had done what she thought was impossible. "You may call me by my true name," the older man, the familiar, once-boy states, red hair cresting outwards, orange eyes shining with new light, "The name I have given myself: _**Adam**_." Lala's eyes fall in confusion, as the unfamiliar name rings in her ears. "Yuuki Rito died, nine years ago, by your side, Lala Satalin Deviluke," the man who is not Rito states pleasantly, "Now, I have his life, his love, his children, for I am Adam; I am the scion of a new age, and now with you returned to me, you will become _**my new Eve**_!"


	20. Interlude: The Harem King's Origin

**_A/N: To those confused by the last chapter, Rito is not dead. He rather died a metaphorical death, which is hopefully explained a bit more in detail following this chapter. Enjoy, and as always:_**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own To Love Ru._

 _Later That Day_

Lala had been returned to her room, after meeting Not-Rito, the one who called himself Adam. She had refused to eat with him, after learning that he planned to have her as his bride, after seeing him strip his own daughter of her emotions. She had taken her food with her, of course, and now she sat, locked and alone, in the room provided to her. With a knock at the door, the hooded woman from earlier enters her room, trailed by the little girl with the doll that was clearly inspired by Celine. "I've come to check up on you, Lala, and deliver lunch to you," the hooded servant states, "Manami wished to see you too, so she followed me here as well." The blue haired girl smiles, the gap in her tooth showing in the precious smile. "She's unaware of what her father did to Uwe," the woman whispers to Lala, as she takes the empty platter and replaces it with the one in her hands, "So please, try not to upset her, she's still too young to understand."

Lala doesn't know how to respond, but she smiles as the little girl tries valiantly to climb up onto the large bed Lala was sitting on. "Come here!" Lala states, holding out her hands to grab the child by her waist, "Let me help you up!" The little girl giggles and runs to Lala, before being hefted up and onto the bed, holding the Celine doll tightly to her chest. "My my, who is that?" Lala asks, fishing the child for information, "She's so pretty, she reminds me of someone I once knew, did your mommy make that for you?"

The child merely giggles and hands the doll off to Lala, who takes it and notices the intricate detail and the similarities. "Hewr name is Celine-chi, she was one of my Aunties, but Mama said she died," Manami states sadly, standing on her knees on the bed, and grabbing Layla's shoulder to hold on to, "Aunty Mikan sewed it for me!" Lala hears the crash of metal to the floor, as she turns to see the servant picking up the spilled container. "Papa treats Aunty Mikan like a s-s-savant, but Uwe told me the twuth!" Lala turns to the little girl as she speaks again, and the little girl leans in to whisper to her, "I fought she was my Aunty anyway, she gave me Celine-chi, and Aunties always give their n-neic-nice's gifts!" The girl smiles, before peeking over Lala's shoulders at the woman, who is picking herself up from the floor.

Lala turns and calmly regards the woman who is standing a little ways away from her. Tears prick her eyes, as the reason why the servant looked so familiar comes to light. Sighing the woman sets down the platter, and walks over to where Lala was sitting with Manami. Sitting on Lala's other side, the woman pulls down her hood to reveal the familiar, if slightly older, face of Mikan Yuuki. She smiles as Lala gets a clear look at her for the first time, tears at the edges of both their eyes. "I'm sorry, Lala, but I didn't have the heart to tell you," Mikan states, "There's so much that's gone on in the past nine years- Lala, the universe has changed so much without you..."

Lala merely cries into Mikan's shoulders, happy for a friendly face and voice she could talk to. "Mikan- what happened, why aren't we on Earth, and why are you a servant?" she asks the younger Yuuki sibling, "What happened to me, and why is Rito calling himself 'Adam'?" The Yuuki sibling gives a thin smile at that, before getting up and grabbing Manami and placing her on the floor. She pulls something from her pocket, before sprinkling it on Manami. The young girl sneezes, before changing in a literal poof of air. In the younger girls place, is a young boy with orange hair and red eyes, who smiles at Mikan, and frowns at Lala. He also frowns when he sees he still is wearing a dress, and with but a thought, the clothes seem to convert into casual boys clothes.

"Thank you Aunt Mikan," the boy states clearly, before turning to Lala, "Nice to meet you Aunt Lala, I suggest you seek your answers quickly, Manami won't hesitate to spill your secrets to Father, so I will take my leave." Bowing the serious looking five year old, who surprises Lala with his almost business like attitude, then leaves the room and the two women alone.

"That was Takumi, he's Manami's twin, they're both Run's child," Mikan states, looking just a bit wistfully at the door before turning back to Lala, "Don't worry, they aren't Rito's, or Adam's, the clothes are nanite-infused; Run got into a bad situation a few years ago, and ended up pregnant and dumped by some groupie that only wanted to get into her pants..." Mikan sighs, and puts a hand to the side of her head. "Adam married Run, making her one of his secondary wives, and gave her and the children a home," she continues, "Manami loves Adam like he was her own father, Takumi on the other hand, is more like Uwe in showing his dislike of Adam, not after he... saw, some things." Mikan doesn't elaborate, but Lala can tell that whatever happened, caused the young child to hate the man who took them in as their father.

"Mikan-" Lala states, wanting to get back on track, "What happened to Rito?" Mikan looks at Lala, with a look that tells her that she had been trying to avoid this subject. that was probably why she was trying to stall for time, not knowing, or even wanting to explain what happened to cause Rito to change so drastically.

"He wasn't always this way, you know," Mikan states, sighing, "Things happen, in the third year of high school that caused Rito to... be different, obtain a unique power over Dark Matter; an enemy of ours gains control of an ancient, parasitic life form, and attempt to have it take over Rito, only for it to cause an explosive reaction..." Mikan smiles, as she realizes that Lala is staring wide eyed at her. "Yes, well, it ended up with Rito ending up with some serious recovery time in the hospital, but afterwards he...changed," Mikan continues, no longer smiling, as she thinks back to those darker days following, "He began to show increased strength, he somehow gained unparalleled swordsmanship, but he also became quick to paranoia; once we tried to take his special sword away, he almost couldn't part with it, stating he had been 'learning' so much from him." Mikan notices that she caught Lala's attention at the last bit.

"Oh, yes, he referred to the blade as a 'Him', even gave it a name," Mikan says, scornfully laughing, "I'm sure you could probably guess it, after all." Lala cocks her head at that, and Mikan decides to come out with it. "Before he chose the name Adam, Rito once called his sword by that name," Mikan states, "Bladix, the name of the parasitic sentient that inhabited the sword, had died trying to take Rito over, but he ended up having passed on knowledge to Rito before he died; we don't know if this 'Adam' came about from that, or because of your... untimely death, but we should have seen the signs that things were going to take a turn for the worse..."

 _Nine Years Prior_

Mikan had been out of the area, thankfully, with Nana, Mea, and Nemesis as her protection. She had lost sight of Celine in all the confusion, only to find the little seedling had stowed away with Rito once he had left to fight Azenda. Now, here she was, staring at the rubble of her town and house, her ruined neighborhood burning or crumbling around her. Rito was on his knees, cradling Layla's dead body, torn between the loss and the desire to bury her. Momo stood by him, gripping his shoulder, and crying at the sight of her dead older sister. Mikan saw the carnage around her, Kuro was dead nearby, along with the ashes of whom she hoped was Azenda the Tyrant. She quickly found out what had happened to Celine, when she approached Rito and Momo, and joined her brother in his mourning.

They had just lost their family, after all, their home, their neighborhood, their very town. All Rito had now was his sister, and she him in return. Even Lala, the one she had seen as her older sister, the one she had hoped against all odds that she would be the one to marry him, was gone. Momo, Nana, Sephira, and Gid had all lost their eldest sister and daughter, with Rito losing his fiancée. Mikan had lost a daughter in Celine, her friends, and no doubt others among the wrecked town that once was the center of their lives. The world was hollow and meaningless now, and all the three had now, was the comfort from being together on such a sad day.

After seven freshly dug graves were made and filled, Mikan, Rito, and Momo all stood over the marked resting places of their loving family and friends. "What do we do now?" Mikan asks, "Where will we go, without Mom and Dad, or Lala." Rito tried not to cry, he really did, but he swings the sword I to the scabbard on his back.

"We go home, Mikan," Rito states, "I don't know quite where it is, but we'll find it." Mikan merely nods, before Momo gently stoops to the youngest Yuuki siblings level, and goes for a hug.

"You'll all be coming back with me," Momo states, "Father and Mother need to hear what happened, you'll be safest if you come back to Deviluke with Zastin, Nana, and myself, as well." Rito merely nods, and Mikan cries sorrowfully into the Devilukean hybrids shoulders. They had lost so much, and the effects would span years into the future. Together they walked off towards their future.

 _Within Rito's Mind_

' ** _Do you feel it, Yuuki Rito?_** ' a callous, tinny voice asks, ' ** _Our harmony, our duet?_** ' The small blob of darkness does not expect a reply, not until it was ready. He had to begin somewhere, after all. _**'I am slowly taking you apart, piece by piece,**_ ' the voice states, ' ** _And then I will rebuild you, rebuild us, into a perfect whole, You and Me, shall become We..._** ' The voice drifts, and the internal form of Yuuki Rito, his inner self, his psyche, does not feel the binding chains of darkness, as they tighten around his very soul. He does not know it yet, but already Rito has become his puppet.

 _[I]Eight Years Prior_

Rito Yuuki, as he was formerly called, married Momo Belia Deviluke some months afterwards, much to the surprise of all involved. It had seemed the two found comfort in each other, despite the once held animosity between them. Of course there was little fanfare, as they officially became the heirs to the throne of Deviluke, and chose to have their honeymoon on a mudball planet in the lesser visited places in space. Mikan had found that absence made the heart grow fonder, and on her trip home to Earth, she found this feeling true of the blue jewel hanging in space. A year had gone by, she only wondered how the world had moved on in their absence.

Instead of a land glistening blue, it appeared that the world seemed more gray, more barren than it had ever seemed. Since joining the galactic community, it seemed that Earth fell by the wayside. Progress had not been made on social issues, the environment was continually degrading without regulations being placed on consumer markets, technology was being hoarded as war became more and more common with resources being depleted, as the whole world feared the revelation of a bigger, scarier universe beyond their world. Mikan could only cry as she skimmed the intranet from Earth orbit, seeing these truths all the more becoming real to her. She turned and found Momo and Rito, arm in arm, walking together into the ship's observational lounge, where Mikan begun her search.

"Mikan, it is time," Rito states, "Now you see why the Galactic Police recalled all on-world aliens, and banned travel to Earth after the Sainan Disaster last year; the Earth needs help." Mikan can't help but look at Rito and Momo, observing their expressions. Rito is cold and calculating, as much as it seemed to have ever been since losing Lala, and Momo likewise conveyed little beyond pity for the state Earth found itself in. "Do you see, now, why we must do what we can?" Rito states, swaying his hand over the surface of Earth through the window, "This can all still be saved, still be allowed to grow." Mikan merely stands and walks over to her brother, and in an act of heartbreak, hugs him in a tearful embrace like she did one year ago that very day.

"Yes, I understand," she states back, bitter tears rolling down her cheeks, "But they will say no, we both know that..." Rito nods, as Mikan steps back from the hug. "At least find what friends and family we have down there, give them a chance to join us!" she states, pleadingly, "If worse comes to worse, they will at least be safe among us, here in this ship." Rito nods, and steps away from Momo, putting both of his hands on the window's guardrail.

"It has been done; Kyouko, Run, your old friends, Saki Tenjouin and Aya, Mikado-sensei, everyone who survived the Sainan massacre, even Yuu and Akiho, were brought aboard," Rito calmly states, "Now, we can begin." At that, the view screen was filled with the Devilukean armada Rito brought with him, granted by request from King Gid. "Let the new era for Earth begin, kindled by the hope of peace," Rito states, to his two observers, "Or let it begin within the fiery ashes of the old world, and let Humanity begin anew." Mikan merely watched as a new day dawned over the Earth, one led by the soon-to-be King of the Deviluke Empire, a Son of Earth himself.

 **-**

' _ **Do you see it, Rito?**_ ' the voice in the Darkness asks, as he squeezes his blackened tendrils deeper into Rito's cracking psyche, ' ** _A new world order, brought about by our own hands!_** ' What once was Rito was little more than half a man, his whole lower half totally consumed by shadow, the cancerous growth having also consumed his forearms like living manacles. There was no light, no resistance in the former Yuuki Rito, his psyche having been subsumed by the newly birthed malevolence brought forth from within him. ' _ **You will see, Yuuki Rito,**_ ' the Darkness states, ' _ **All I do has been to bring about your inner desires, the secret dreams and lofty goals you dream of fulfilling; that she, dreams of you fulfilling...**_ ' The barren consciousness of Rito does not respond to his captor.

 _The First Anniversary of New Earth/Seven Years Prior_

Mikan sat next to Momo, as she cried her eyes out. The pink haired Empress of the new Devilukean order, ruled by Rito, cried into her sister-in-laws shoulders, sobbing heavily after having confessed her grievous sin. 'Does he know?" Mikan simply asks in response, "You can't ever tell him if he doesn't know..." Mikan might have thought the old Rito would have been forgiving, loving, understanding even. But that was the old Rito Yuuki, the one who loved and would never have harmed anyone. Not the monster who slew King Gid after he confronted Rito within the radioactive ruins of planet Earth. Mikan had heard it would take hundreds of years to decontaminate the Earth, even with all the advances in technology space faring cultures had to offer, and that was before the damage Rito and King Gid caused in their battle.

This being the same King Gid who had sent the universe top five assassins against him as a test. One of them was even a Lycanthrope of Alpha Canis, who had been gifted an ancient Orichalcum tail handed down through his Clan for generations, crafted by the same man who created Bladix and Hades. A tail that Rito now proudly wore as part of himself, signifying how far he had fallen from his humanity. Mikan knew this savage, yet civilized, new side of Rito had been troubling, and Mikan did not know how mercurial his temperament could shift.

"He doesn't know the child is not his," Momo quietly whispers, "He was so happy when he found out, I didn't even know how he knew..." She huddles into a ball and cries some more. Mikan comfortingly put her arm around Momo, trying to console her as best she could. Meanwhile, from a crack in the doorway, golden-amber eyes peer in from the darkness of the sleeping kingdom. In a blink of an eye, they were gone.

 **-**

 _Within Rito's Mind_

' ** _You will not regret your sacrifice, Rito Yuuki,_** ' a voice says in a small corner of his subconscious mind, ' _ **We have another opportunity to set things right, to make sure everyone in the universe does not have to suffer like this..**_.' The blackness grows and envelops him further, the mental construct of Rito shackled by it and unable to respond. _**'I will use your power, Rito Yuuki, and I will birth a new world for you; a paradisiacal empire that will not suffer the loss and betrayal you have felt,**_ ' the malignant voice, the voice of Darkness, speaks within his mind, ' ** _You will be my puppet King, and together we will become the first born of a new galactic order..._** '

The strands of shadow grip tighter around Rito, sucking more knowledge, leeching away his personality, more and more into its control, searching for an idea, a name to go with this new concept it was feeling. ' _ **Ah, yes, a new name will be needed when we reveal our new self,'**_ it bubbles out giddily, ' **Adam** _ **; that is what we shall be called, a fitting name, for a new paradise needs its caretaker.**_ '

 _One Year Prior_

"And so, on the sixth anniversary of my rise to power, I have decided to broadcast this message to the whole Milky Way Galaxy, and other subjective galaxies within Deviluke rule," the newly armored form of King Yuuki states to his followers galaxies and stars apart, "Today will mark a new day for the former Deviluke Empire, as it sheds its former being and adopts a new way of life!" He raises the hand of his newly proclaimed wife, the galactic idol Run Elsie Jewelria-Yuuki. "As I welcome my newlywed wife Run into my family, along with my loving wife Momo, so too do I usher in a new era for a new Galactic Order!" he states triumphantly, "No longer will the name 'Rito Yuuki' strike fear into the hearts of many, for his Empire is dead; No, I proclaim myself by my new title: Adam, for I will take care of you."

'Adam' smiles, as he places a helmet onto his head, completing his new look and sealing himself away in the process. "Long Live the newly christened Deviluke Imperium, a government dedicated to the prosperity of its people," 'Adam' shouts to the universe with his newly distorted voice, "Let it hold dear the universal goal of sharing love and order within it!" Galaxy wide, it was said on that day the thunderous roars of applause shook worlds to their cores.

That would also be the last day the universe would be at total peace. Adam, and his newly named Deviluke Imperium, would face threats from extra-territorial invaders, civil unrest from the heart of the empirical throne world, and the newly reformed terrorist organization naming itself 'Eden', after the original terrorist organization that was hunted to extinction almost twenty years prior.

 _Back to Lala's Future/Present_

He did all that, married Momo, he conquered the Earth, killed Assassins and my Father, and became a galactic ruler?" Lala states, shocked by the abject horror of it all, "How could he become such a monster?" Mikan merely shrugged, not having an answer to her question.

"It's quite simple, my dear Sister," a new voice interjects, as they turn to its source, "Rito Yuuki has been overtaken by the very sword he used to conquer with." Lala can't help but notice the bags under her sister's eyes, the haggard appearance hidden by makeup to the universe at large, but easily visible to the one who knew her the best. "I always knew in my heart that Rito Yuuki could never truly change, but it took me years to gather the evidence that could prove it," Momo states, holding up a tape, "I need you to do something for me, Lala..." Lala watches as she places the tape in the hand of Mikan. "Take Mikan, take Uwe, and run; run to Deviluke, to Nana, and she will help you," Momo states quickly and quietly, "She will take you in, give you enough political cover to escape the Harem King that my husband has become, and find a way to return to your Rito!" Mikan doesn't know what to say, and neither does Lala, before they find Uwe barging in the door.

"I've got the escape vehicle ready, it's loaded with the Pyon-Pyon Warp Drive you had me install," she states, looking harshly at Lala as she speaks, "We can leave this, leave him, all behind and meet Father by morning light!" Momo smiles sweetly at her daughter, before stooping down and hugging her tightly. "Mother?" Uwe states, more than asks, "You aren't coming with me..." Uwe pushes off from her Mother, and stares at Lala and Mikan, before seeing the case being held by Mikan.

"I'm sorry, but there's no time to argue," Momo states, pushing them all out the door and towards the hanger bay, "Save my little girl, Lala, get Mikan to Nana, and for all the gods of the universe's sakes, keep Rito from becoming this monster!" Suddenly Momo feels a hand close around her shoulder, and she finds herself staring into the glowing eyes of her husband's armor. "You're too late, Adam," Momo states, before hawking a wad of spit into the man's faceplate, "Whoever you are, I found out that you aren't my husband, just a mockery of who he was..." Adam merely wipes of the spit form his face plate, before removing the helmet all together.

"Well, girls, I don't know who she is, but it seems that our intruder has turned my loving wife against me," Adam states, "I will put my wife into the infirmary to have her checked out, but please, keep our guests from leaving the hanger bay; emergency protocols can be engaged by your voice commands, after all." At that three pairs of eyes blink into existence and vanish in the darkness,leaving Momo feeling abject horror at what he had just unleashed on his own sister, his daughter, and his ex-fiancee.

"You'd unleash them on your own daughter, on your own sister?" Momo states in outrage, "Lala is right, you have become a monster, if you're willing to send you assassins against three innocent women..." Adam merely smiles at Momo, a disapproving glare on his face as he sneers at her.

"Oh please, like the daughter of a harlot such as yourself is fit to be mine!" Adam states, and Momo opens her eyes wide, finding that she was caught, "Oh, yes, I've known ever since the beginning, my ' **dear** ' wife, and I waited for you to tell me, but now it seems it is too late for apologies...this _**poison**_ has run its course, and now its time to treat the infection!" Momo feels helpless, as Rito begins to drain her life force from her very body, extracting all the hatred, anger, and the pain. Crackling darkness glows in his hands, a hellish purple energy formed from his hatred. Closing his fist on it, the flame recedes to be stored within him. He would need it soon, it would seem. Dragging the unconscious form of his wife over his shoulder, Adam makes his way to the infirmary.

 _Meanwhile_

In the hanger bay, Uwe, Mikan, and Lala all rush into the ship Uwe had prepared for them. After a few moments of starting the engines after sealing the doors, they began to try and initiate the departure sequence. "Why isn't it working?" Mikan asks Uwe, "The hanger bay doors aren't responding!" Uwe nods, and looks into a bunch of various monitors and screens.

"Emergency override codes have been initiated," Uwe states, "In case of a siege, they lock up tight so no enemy ships are able to force their way into the bay; we'll have to blast out way out!" Suddenly Uwe freezes as she looks into an external view screen. "Shit!" Uwe says, "The three faces of darkness have been unleashed!" Mikan looks up at Uwe, and stares at her with open eyes.

"He didn't!" she states in disbelief, "Fire everything, before they attack!" Just as she was about to, Uwe noticed that they were currently missing a person. "Where's Lala?" Mikan asks, "Where did she go?" Just as they were about to panic, or die after being attacked by Rito's top three weapons, the static of the engine room intercom cut to life.

"Sorry Mikan, Uwe, I just had to admire your engines!" Lala states from the lower room, "I happened to overhear that they had a item I'm familiar at working with installed, so hang onto your hats!" Mikan quickly sat down and buckled up, much to Uwe's confusion, but she too buckled. "The flights about to get a little rough," Lala states, laughing as she does so, "Activate! Pyon-Pyon- Warp-Kun DX!" After flash, and the warp of space time, an empty hanger bay was all that was left inside the hanger. Two shadowy figures, one red and one fair haired, stare in confusion at their missing member. The ship, and one of their own, was gone!


	21. Interlude: Serpent of Eden

_Disclaimer: No need to claim I own To Love Ru, because I don't!_

 _Deviluke, Ten Years into the Future_

Lala sits at the console, staring at the familiar planet coming into view. It had been perspective years since she had visited the planet last, and even in the future, Lala's home world still took her breath away. Even in this wickedly, deceptive future, the planet of Deviluke still held onto its beauty and importance. After Mikan and Uwe made some calls, the ship landed with little incident and fanfare, even with the crown princess of Deviluke aboard their ship. Then again, Mikan had insisted she wear a robe that covered both her face and features.

"It's because Deviluke is the only place in the universe, where even Rito's claim to the former empire is still being disputed," Mikan states, as they walk into the Royal Palace of Deviluke, a building still unchanged by time as ever, "When Nana learned of your Father's death at Rito's hands, she never forgave him, and drew support from her political advisors and the common folk of Deviluke, until the Empire almost fell into Civil War." Lala walked through the halls of the palace, flanked by Mikan and Uwe, with servants stopping every so often to bow to Uwe in their work. "Nana eventually relented at Momo's behest, and she has lived in isolation as a political prisoner of her own making," Mikan continues, as they stop in front of a single door in a lone wing far from the main areas of the castle, "She still refuses to accept Rito, Adam, as King, and her voice is still heard and echoed in her followers both in the Royal Courts of Deviluke, and worlds within the Imperial domain."

Mikan knocks, before the doors begin to open and a green haired man answers the door. "Mikan-sama," the bespectacled man who answers, states, "It is good to see you have returned with the Royal Family in impeccable time; Nana-sama and I believed you would not return for a few more days." Mikan smiled at the unfamiliar gentleman, who took her hand and kissed it out of respect. He then looks at Lala, and raises one of his eyebrows at the cloaked figure. "Oh, and who could you be?" he asks, and looks toward Mikan for a response, "Another lost traveler, exiled to our lonely little corner of the universe?"

"Knock it off Nakajima, and let them in already," the voice of Nana calls from inside the room, "Unless you want me to call in one of my beasts and sick them on you!" The green haired butler quickly parts from the door, gesturing them inside before closing the door behind them. "Mikan, nice to see you!" Nana states, looking like an aged up version of the little sister Lala always knew, "And Uwe, it's always nice to see my favorite niece, and I'm sure your father is happy to have you here as well!" Lala cocked her head at that, looking towards Mikan, who merely offers an awkward smile in response. "Oh, and who are you?" Nana states, now noticing Lala, "Uwe didn't tell me you were going to pick up any friends on your way home, or are you another one of the 'Harem Kings' adoptive daughters?" Nana merely takes a sip from the glass in her hand, before setting it down and walking over to Lala. "Could you please remove your hood?" Nana states, "I'd hate for you to end up being one of the 'good' King's spies..."

Lala merely removes her hood from her head, which causes Nana to stop her rant in progress. "Nana?" Lala asks softly, "Are you okay?" Her response comes in the form of a hug, something she hadn't expected from her, younger-but-older, sister.

"You came back..." Nana states, hugging her like she would wake up at any moment, and it would end up being a dream, "How... how are you here?" Lala gently pulls away from her, and Mikan goes in to talk.

"We don't know exactly how she came to be here, it seems she is a time traveler though, and we can both tell she's our Lala's past self," Mikan states, and she puts her arm around Lala, "Of course once Adam saw who she was, he decided to take her as another one of his brides..." Nana's face screws up in a look of disgust and confusion at that, realizing those implications. "That's not the least of our problems now, Nana, Momo managed to get this to us, to give to you," Mikan continues, handing the tape to Nana, "We managed to escape with her foresight, as she had Uwe equip one of Lala's experiments into the ships space drive, allowing us to get here ahead of the King..." Nana didn't have to look twice at the tape, before moving over to a bookshelf.

Lala was confused for a few moments, watching her sister, until the bookshelf fell away to reveal a secret room. Following Mikan and Nana into the room, Uwe held back with Nakajima, who seemed close to the girl despite being a servant. "So, she finally decided to give me these files, eh?" Nana states, going to a computer and entering the tape into a slot that was compatible with it, "The recordings she retrieved from Azenda's wrecked ship... before Rito destroyed its sensory data..." Nana stands back, and joins Mikan and Lala to observe a separate viewing screen that contained the archived video/audio playback.

Lala observed to her objective horror, along with Nana and Mikan. It showed the events happening after Rito had destroyed Azenda and her cronies, as he wept over Lala's future self. Kuro appears on screen, shortly followed by an accusatory conversation between the two of them, Kuro loading his faithful weapon 'Hades' with a new bullet, and lining up to make a shot at the distressed Rito. In the span of a moment, Rito's very hand became charged with dark matter, and his body fell as the energy lanced through him. Lala cried out, as did Mikan, seeing her beloved cause such rampant death, against one of his own friends as well! The video cuts out at that point, and it takes a few minutes before any of them would move away from the horror they had just witnessed.

"He- he _lied to us_ , for all these years?" Mikan asks, hot tears going down her cheeks, having just seen her brother kill the former assassin with her own eyes, "Rito... he said Azenda had gotten to Kuro, he said he couldn't save him in time..." Nana turns away from the machine, ejecting the tape from it.

"This isn't enough, but it will do," she states dispassionately, "We won't be able to dispose of Adam this way, we won't even be able to rally his own men against him with this, but it's the start we need..." Lala looks to Nana, as she struggles to understand what her sister is saying, as is Mikan. Nana turns tot hem, seeing their questioning glances, she sighs in defeat. "Lala, you won't really understand, but Mikan, you should have realized by now, just what I do here," Nana states, moving to the computer and activating the screen, showcasing an emblem that Mikan recognizes instantly, "Under Adam's own nose, I've funded and organized all of 'New' Eden's movements and actions, and with this we will rally more to our cause, to dethrone Rito and restore the Deviluke Empire..." Lala can't believe her sister is one of the terrorists she had heard about from Mikan, but Mikan merely laughed at the irony that Adam would have one of his greatest enemies under his own roof.

"Momo must have known, that's why she wanted you to be kept alive," Mikan states, "Is that why she managed to get Nakajima as your in-house servant.. do you know?" Nana nods, and Mikan belts out a laugh at that. "How rich, how very rich, that you're the reason Uwe's father is still alive," Mikan states, crying at the realization, "Gods be damned, how messed up are we all?" Lala is confused, but that matters little as a scream sounds from the main room.

Rushing out of the secret room, Lala stumbles upon a very familiar face. Nakajima, his face bruised and glasses broken and hanging limply off his face, his being held by the throat by red tipped claws. "Nana-hime, Mikan-hime, Lala hidenka, Uwe-hime, please do not attempt anything," the mechanical voice of Nakajima's captor states, "Adam Heika has requested your presence be contained until his return to Deviluke, and I will hurt Nakajima to ensure you know I have been allowed to hurt you, if I must." Lala stares in shock at the female figure in front of her, a woman that looked like an older version of Golden Darkness.

" _Father!_ " Uwe calls out, getting up from where she was pushed down, "Put him down, Yami-san!" The assassin's eyes widen just a little bit at the forcefulness of the young princess' command, and she accidentally loosens her grip on the choking man. "Daddy!" running up to Nakajima, who was coughing from the release of tension around his neck, Uwe can't help but stare up at the elder blonde, "How could you Yami, you hurt him, he's not even armed!" At this point Mikan speaks up.

"Yami-chan, Golden Darkness, how did you even get here?" Mikan states, drawing the attention to herself in the process, "We warped out of the hanger, the flagship shouldn't even be able to make it home for three more days..." The elder assassin nods, and walks past Uwe and Nakajima, who is cradled into the younger girls lap.

"When you managed to warp out of the ship, I had already slipped into your ship," Yami states coldly, "Adam-sama stated you were tricked by this imposter, I see Uwe has been affected into believing Nakajima is her father; an err the King will not forgive you making, monster..." Raising one of her red claws, she goes to grab Lala from the midst of Nana and Mikan, only for Mikan and Nana to step in front of her, stopping Yami in her tracks. "I see you believe her lies as well," Yami states, before stepping back, "I guess I have no choice then-" Putting her hand out to the side, before any of them could react, Yami has gripped Lala's arm through one of her wormholes. In less than ten seconds Lala feels cold claws against her throat, her hands and wrists both behind her in Yami's large grip.

" _Lala!_ " Mikan calls out, as she sees her in Yami's grasp, "Wait, Yami- Rito lied, Kuro wasn't killed by Azenda!" Yami stops, just inches from scarring Lala's face, and looks up to face Mikan's steely gaze. "Momo provided us with the information, video and audio from Azenda's ship, information Rito tried to destroy," Mikan states cautiously, "That's why Rito wanted you all to come after us, that's why he sent you to cover it up- he can't hide the truth from us anymore!" Yami is conflicted, she doesn't know what to think, until she looks down to see the scared face of Lala staring up at her.

"Show me," Yami states, her curiosity winning out, "I want to know who killed the target of my love!" Yami let go of Lala, who slid to the floor in relief. It seemed that Yami would listen to reason. Mikan showed her into the secret room, and Nana replayed the footage. By its end, Yami had transformed from her Darkness form, back into her regular clothes, though obviously aged up. "Tearju- Kuro-" Yami states, and Mikan and Nana are unsure if she would lash out at them again, "Adam- Rito- he lied to me and killed my beloved... Lala, I am afraid that I must apologize, both for harming you, and for what I have yet to do..." Mikan and Nana stare nervously at each other, and Lala wonders just what is going through the living weapon's mind.

"What do you mean Yami? I always forgive my friends," Lala states, "Why would you have to ask for my forgiveness, when we all were victims here..." Lala watches as Yami uncharacteristically smiles, a vicious, cruel expression on her face, which causes a shiver of fear down Lala's spine.

"I have renewed my contract, of course, Lala-sama," Yami states, "My target is Rito Yuuki, alias Adam; Kuro's death will be avenged!" Lala, Nana, Mikan, and Uwe all stare at the living weapon, as she turns one of her bangs into a sharp blade, and puts her thumb across it, causing her to bleed just a little. "By a blood oath, I swear Adam will regret lying to us all," Yami states, "He is no longer my friend, or my King, but the target of my anger!" Flaring up, Yami's Darkness form emerges back onto her, and her expression is quite merciless.

"No- Yami-chan!" Nana calls out, causing the living weapon to stop in her tracts, "We can't just kill him, he's too strong with the weapons at his disposal, with his power over dark matter and as a King with warships, we cannot attack him directly!" The living weapon sneers, but then attempts to control her temper, seeing Mikan and Lala with looks of concern on their faces.

"What must we do, then, Nana-hime?" Yami asks, "What could we do that could possibly make things right, that could bring me the love of my life back, that could bring all the men and women who died on Earth, back?" Nana smiles at that, and then shows them a pin, that of the design that Lala had not recognized on Nana's computer.

"We go to Eden, and we use their resources to rebuild Lala a way home," Nana states, "Once she's put back on track to her future, when the time comes, she can make sure our future never comes to pass-by one way, or another." Lala doesn't know why those words seem chilling, nor does she wish to know their implications. "So, we will leave for Memorze in the morning," Nana finalizes, "From there-"

"Memorze?" Yami questions, "Why would we go to that death trap of a planet?" The living weapon crosses her arms as she asks this. "Ever since Ren displeased Adam- Rito, that planet has become the universe's living prison," Yami states, "If he never spoke out, it wouldn't have become a penal colony for the worlds worst criminals, and the odd politician, to live out the rest of their lives building equipment for the Imperial fleets." Nana nods, and smiles even more.

"That's what made it the perfect headquarters for Eden to build their resistance from, what better way to incite rebellion, than get the people who want revenge," Nana states, smiling as she puts a hand across Yami's shoulders, "Just think, steal a spare cog here, swipe a metal sheet there, and voila, we have a hidden base underneath the last place Adam would look." Lala smiles at her sister's enthusiasm, while Mikan merely laughs off the excited look Nana was giving Yami, who slightly smiled in return.

 _The Next Day_

"Nakajima- your Father, will be okay Uwe," Mikan states, "He'll be asleep until we reach Memorze, and from what Nana tells us, they have the best medical advisor in Eden that we can rely on, he'll get help there." Uwe nods, as she turns from the room where she had put her father to bed, before take off from the Royal Palace. "Come on, let's join Nana and Lala on the bridge," Mikan continues, smiling to cheer the girl up, "Yami-chan is doing final checks on the engine, and there's nothing we can do until we reach the Eden facility." Uwe nods, sighing as she follows Mikan onto the bridge. As they enter, the ship is seen leaving the hanger, and exiting the planet into space.

Lala notices the girls attitude as time passes and sympathetically smiles, knowing it must be tough having to worry about the man in the infirmary like that. "Mikan, Nana, if Uwe isn't Rito's child, and she calls Nakajima 'Father'," Lala trails off, not sure how to phrase her question towards the pilots, "Does that mean Momo..." Nana sighs and nods, as does Mikan, who looks down at Uwe and hugs the girl.

"During the first year of their marriage, after Rito became the heir to the throne, he went on to conquer the Earth, and he became... distant," Nana states, looking to Mikan, who nods, "Rito saved who he could, Nakajima was one of the men who adored Momo in school, so of course he decided to become her 'manservant', and things led to other things, until.." Nana just kind of rolls her hands towards Uwe, embarrassed to continue.

"Momo made a mistake, one she regretted for a time, before she eventually got over it," Mikan picks up, "He stopped being caring, he stopped being interested in Momo, after he began to reform the Earth governments and found himself away from her side for weeks, even months, at a time." She squeezes Uwe's shoulder before she continues. "Momo stopped feeling loved by Rito, he hadn't talked to her for months, they hadn't even shared the same bed for almost just as long," Mikan states, not embarrassed to tell it like she knew, "Nakajima was always by her side, always comforting and reassuring her that she was loved, because in a way, he tried to be for her when Rito wasn't able to; after one night of heavy drinking, Momo made a grave mistake in her judgment, and both Nakajima and Momo regretted that night..."

Lala opens her eyes, staring at Uwe, before seeing the scared little girl that she was, crying into Mikan's arms. "After my Father was killed by Adam, and I nearly caused a civil war, Momo interjected before Adam could exile me," Nana states, "By that time Uwe had been born, and Nakajima knew he couldn't bear to watch her grow up, calling that monster her father; so, Momo requested I become a prisoner within the Royal Castle, in an isolated wing, with Nakajima as my servant, and in our own way we comforted each other, away from public eye." Nana hugs her niece, walking over to her other side. "Nakajima couldn't approach Uwe in public, nor could he tell the truth about his affair with Momo, Adam would have likely took his head out of jealousy," Nana continues, "So, he took every opportunity when Uwe would visit me, to spoil her rotten and be the father he could not be in public; eventually Momo told her the truth, but swore her to secrecy, and Uwe has lived with this knowledge for years, knowing her Mother was in love with a monster, even though she found happiness with a mere servant..." Lala nods in understanding, happy to know more about her niece.

"We're here," Mikan states, having turned her attention back to the ship, "Jump was successful, and we are now beginning contact protocols with the Royal house of Jewelria." After a few minutes, the seal of the Royal Family of Memorze appears onscreen.

"State your business contacting this secure channel," a gruff voice accompanies an even gruffer looking man, whose hair is white and black, and an eye-patch covers his left eye, "Only the Royal Family of Jewelria has clearance to access these channels!" Lala smiles as she recognizes the face of her long time friend, and now apparently King, Ren Elsie Jewelria of Memorze. "I said, state your business!" Ren barks out again, after no one answers, "I- Nana? Mikan?" The Memorzean King merely blinks his eye, finally recognizing the women who were currently contacting him. "May I ask why a political fugitive and the King's sister, is currently orbiting my planet, with who I assume is the King's renegade daughter?" he asks the two women, after he notices Uwe off to the side, "And who is that last...?" He stops, as Nana interrupts him.

"In person," she demands, "We're heading for hanger twelve, notify the 'Serpent' of our arrival, because we don't have time for games, Ren." The Memorzean straightens out at that, before nodding. "Tell them we have an 'old friend' who will be providing us with some unique requests for technical expertise and fabrication of items," Nana states, "Tell them to send up a medic for an injured man we have aboard, and that we're being accompanied by their lost 'Eve'." Ren nods, before the channel is cut and the ship begins its descent.

 _Hangar Twelve_

Ren came to greet them with two medics, who loaded Nakajima onto a stretcher and took him to a Universal Healthcare facility elsewhere. When Ren caught sought of Golden Darkness, he almost drew his sword on the assassin, before he was stopped by a ghost. "Lala?" Ren states, noticing the youthful girl standing in front of him, a phantom who couldn't possibly be alive, "Lala... Mikan, Nana, what have you done?" He turns to the two women, who shrug and point back to Lala.

"I come from sometime in your past, I traveled to the far past of my species home planet on a whim and with a question, and on trying to return to my present, I ended up here," Lala states to the older Ren, "Now I need to get back to my time, and hopefully not become a prisoner-bride of Adam, who wants me to be his 'Eve'!" Ren nods, then puts a hand to the salt and pepper stubble on his chin, stroking it thoughtfully.

"Perhaps it was fate that he became 'Adam', then, hmm?" he muses out loud, before turning to see a confused Lala, "Ah, I see Nana neglected to inform you as to who our 'Serpent' is, then." Lala nods, before she finds herself tackled to the ground, and in a daze.

"Lala-sama!" a small girl with big pink eyes, light pink hair, and two metal disks that acted as hair buns, glomped the startled Devilukean princess. Pulling herself away from the tangle that resulted, Lala is quite surprised to recognize the girl.

"Peke!" Lala states overjoyed, "You're still alive!" This surprised her, as she would have thought that when her counterpart died, Peke have been there, and more than likely destroyed in the process. "How are you here?" Lala asks, "Peke, shouldn't you be on Deviluke, or anywhere else other than here?" Lala notices the artificial girl is shedding tears, which surprises her on the functionality of the robot's body.

"Rito-san, he wouldn't listen, I was nearly out of power when he buried you, Lala-sama," Peke states, "Momo stopped him, and took my pin to your lab on Deviluke, and recharged me!" The little robot runs its arm over her eyes, trying to dry her tears. "It was so lonely, I couldn't tell anyone I was still awake, that I was alive!" Peke states, "If it wasn't for Mikado-sensei, if she hadn't been visiting your lab to look for one of your inventions that was able to cure a very sick patient, I never would have found a purpose beyond helping you, Lala-sama!" Lala blinks, and looks up to see Ryoko Mikado smiling over her.

"It seems you've found the cure for the universe's most common ailment, Lala," Mikado jokes, "I'd love to hear how you did it, but I believe my number one assistant is more than happy enough to take up all my free time between patients..." At that Peke's eyes grow wide and she gulps sitting up and away from Lala, on her knees, as Lala is helped by Mikado to her feet.

"Mikado-sensei!" Lala states in excitement, "You're here too?" The alien doctor nods, and smiles, directing Lala and the others to follow her to another room.

"Yes, Lala, along with Shizu, Peke, Ren, and Myself, the majority of your future allies are here as well," Mikado-sensei states, "Sympathetic rebels, politicians who disagreed with Adam over his methods, many of Nana's own supporters, you will find that Eden is well equipped after its resurrection." Lala quirks her head at that, giving her former school nurse an odd look. Mikado merely smiles her enigmatic smile in return. "You see, Lala, I did not find myself on Earth without a reason, to escape my dark past," she states, leading the three women, Ren, and Peke to a long table, "I escaped one shadow organization, Solgam, only to find out it was one of the roots in a massive conspiracy, headed by an organization that called itself Eden; the same Eden, which... well, you'll find out soon enough in your future, no doubt."

"Why are we here?" Lala asks, having sat at the table with the others, "Aren't we supposed to be meeting this 'Serpent' fellow?" Mikado nods, before pointing to the head of the table. Lala looks, and finds one of the chairs is turned around. Within seconds of noticing this, the chair turns to reveal a figure sitting in the chair, having hid their presence in the darkness of the room.

"Welcome, Lala-sama, and may I say it's a pleasure for these failing eyes to take in your beauty one more time," the stranger in the chair states, smiling and causing his pointed ears to stretch wider. Well, one of his pointed ears, Lala noticed the other one was cut off, along with the added scar slashed across the man's eyes, leaving him almost totally blind by the looks of it. "You see, Lala-sama, I am partially responsible for the current state of the universe, as well as the reason your fiance is currently inhabited by a power-hungry, psychopathic entity made of dark matter," the green skinned, purple lipped toad in tattered clothing states, "I set a trap all those years ago, not realizing the horror I would leash upon the world, nor how much of an impact you had on its development... a mistake I paid for by all but becoming blind, and one my wife paid for with her life..."

Lacospo, one of Lala's most persistent suitors, and Rito's self proclaimed rival, sat across from the Devilukean Princess, in dress that signified he had lost his wealth and status many years ago. "I have made it my life's goal to make up for my sins of the past, in so much I dedicated what fortune I had left to find a way to topple the monster I had made," he continues, "I found like minded people from across the galaxy, Ryoko Mikado, Nana Belia Deviluke, Ren Elsie Jewelria, and so many others scattered like seeds across the galaxy, including those above this very establishment, and have forged them into a cohesive group with a single goal: to topple Adam, and to bring an end to his false paradise!"

Lala took all of this in, before promptly finding the past few weeks of her life catching up with her. Putting a hand to her head, Lala made the most strategic retreat she could manage. "I'm sorry, everything is catching up to me now, I think I need a bit of a rest to take this all in," Lala states with a half-smile, "Thank you Lacospo, everyone, for being honest with me; I-I just need a minute-" The near-blind toadstool nodded, before dismissing the meeting. Peke decided to show her to a room that had been prepped for her, and the loyal robot was currently waiting to be dismissed by her former mistress.

"Peke-" Lala asks, "Am I making the right choice?" The robot cocks her head. "Peke- all of you have been nice, but it seems like the universe is at peace, despite some of the things I've seen," Lala states, hesitantly, "Is this future really so bad, how can I trust all of what you guys say, when you team up with Lacospo, a man who more than once tried to force me to be his bride, just as Rit- Adam, is now doing." Peke nods in understanding.

"Lala, the universe has achieved peace, within all of the Devilukean sphere of influence, this is true, but have you wondered how far that sphere reaches?" Peke responds in kind, "Have you wondered what happened to the Talha Galaxy, or Andromeda?" Lala shakes her head, wondering what her faithful creation was talking about. "The Talha Galaxy was all but destroyed three years ago, in a galactic campaign to create a neutral zone isolating the Milky Way from its chaotic neighbors," Peke states, looking sad as she does so, "The remaining worlds in the Andromeda Galaxy, not already under the Devilukean rule; they were either assimilated, or destroyed if they were found to be too chaotic or violent to be 'tamed' by the Imperial scholars." Lala stares mutely at her creation, her brain to overloaded to deal with processing this information.

Peke puts her hand onto Lala's, smiling as she does so. "Whatever happens, however you get home, Lala," Peke starts, "You must stick true to yourself, do what feels right to you, and you will never be wrong, no matter what the others advise you to do or work against; I know as my creator, Lala-sama, that you have the answers that elude the universe at large." Peke closes her eyes and puts her head into the crook of Lala's shoulder. "Perhaps you will understand, when the time is right, Lala-sama, my genius creator," Peke states, "You will overcome Rito's darkness, and be the shining light he needs to lead himself; trust in this, and you will shine brighter together, than you ever could alone." Lala took little comfort in Peke's assurances, but she couldn't help but feel touched by her little robot's confidence, and gave a smile in return.


	22. The Knight and his Princess

_Disclaimer: I no own To Love Ru._

Nakajima wasn't one to admit that his friends were right. Over a year ago he may have been a bit obsessive, a bit compulsive, and likely to jump to conclusions, but what teenage boy who loved one of the school's Queen Bees, wouldn't once they learned who she lived with. They called him many things, a Beast, a Lecher, a Perverted Klutz, a Smooth Operator, the Innocent Pervert, the Shameless King, and the Panty Perv. To the rest of the world, he was known as Rito Yuuki, the third year high school student, who had a literal alien princess fawning over him, along with a majority of the third year female students who were the 'top of the crop' when it came to the school. To Nakajima, he was the one obstacle in his goal to attract Momo-sama's attention.

Nakajima was by no means a jock, or one of the most handsome members of the male student body at the school. Sure he was one of the few loners in his school, hardly any friends besides his best friend Sugimura, but he made up for it with his stellar grades and high test scores. Sugimura said he tended to let his imagination run away with him sometimes, especially when it concerned the the man who was considered to be on par with the pervert principal of their school, but Nakajima knew he was just an extremely passionate and loyal follower of Momo Belia Deviluke. He was worried that Rito had somehow tricked one of the sweetest, caring, funny, and most dignified women to ever attend Sainan High in their grade, into falling in love with him.

Over the past seven months, Nakajima's instincts toward tearing Rito apart have lessened, as he came to a realization. For once, Nakajima could understand Momo, and her obviously one-sided love towards the man who girl literally fell for. Once Nakajima had begun to observe the usually kind, somewhat shy, but always friendly side of the man he once called his rival, he noticed that his happiness had begun to plummet. Nakajima wasn't stupid, and he noticed that as time wore on, it began to affect even Rito's most closest of friends and comrades, Momo included. He would see Rito in passing, the older student still a klutz and occasionally falling onto a female student, yet it seemed like the smile he wore hid a pang of sorrow and regret behind it. It was that day that Nakajima noticed the purple haired girl that usually hung around him at odd hours, barring interruption by the head disciplinarian or Lala herself, had been gone for more than a month.

He had noticed that as time passed, Rito seemed to withdraw, not even attempting to talk to Momo as time went by, let alone even make time for his closer friends. He watched in silence, along with the other members of the Momo Venus Fanclub, as Momo went from a bubbling source of light to their lives, to a mere wisp of her former self. The fairy like aura, the untouchable force that kept men from approaching her out of respect, was slowly dimming, until it was like she was just another girl in the eyes of many of the men at school. It was such a day, four months ago, that Nakajima made a very personal decision.

 _Four Months Ago_

The day was bright and sunny, which was very unusual for a crisp fall day. The wind wasn't too cold that day, but the days of winter would be approaching soon, and Nakajima took advantage of the weather to enjoy the sights of the last of the leaves clinging to their branches. He too watched Momo, as she walked from the Yuuki residence towards the high school, walking with her older sister Nana, after they both had woken up fairly late in their morning routine. Not that Nakajima was stalking them, or anything, but it was a precautionary measure for him to make, in case she ever had to walk with that wretched Rito, and he needed to swoop in and heroically save the defenseless princess! Smiling, Nakajima shakes his thoughts from slaying the monstrous Rito he conjured up, and focused back on the task at hand.

He noticed as they approached the school grounds, that Nana had yelled out upon seeing Mea-san cornering some poor schmuck outside the gate. When he took a second glance, he realized that Nana was pulling Mea off of a flustered Rito, and he glances out of the corner of his eye to see Momo's reaction. The change is almost immediate, as Momo visibly brightens up from a semi-sleepy boredom, into unconstrained happiness. Nakajima wished she would look like that whenever he tried talking to her, rather than the way she brushed him and the MVF off. He couldn't hear their conversation, but he watched as Momo chattered away, pulling at Rito's sleeves and trying to pull him along with her, but what he saw changed the way he thought of Rito. He forcibly had to remove her hands from his wrists, before turning around to pick up what looked to be his scattered belongings from his confrontation with Mea-san. He noticed as Rito walked away, Momo's attitude flipped like a switch.

Momo stood at the entrance, her back to the wall as she just stood there. He could tell she must be crying, as she went to wipe what must have been tears from her eyes with her sleeve. His heart almost broke, having to watch her deal with the pain of rejection that Rito gave her. He almost had half a mind to punch Rito in the face, if it wasn't for the fact that Rito obviously had been having a bad week, not acting like his usual self. Nakajima watched as Momo pulled herself back together, checked to see how her makeup looked, then bravely attempt to march inside. Until she slammed straight into one of the other second years Nakajima recognized from one of the other classes. When he saw the man apologize, he started to go inside, until he noticed the kid wasn't letting go of Momo's wrists, even though she was attempting to wriggle away.

That tore it for Nakajima, and for the next few seconds, all he can see is red. Quickly making his way over to Momo and the man assaulting her, he has half a mind to chew the guy out for invading her personal space. Just as he was about to reach Momo, something happened that caused him to rethink that she needed help. Suddenly Momo's tail snakes its way around her back and into the guys side, as she releases a nasty electric shock into the man's stomach. He can't help but feel a bit sorry for the guy, as Momo then breaks free from his grasp and forces him against the wall, with just a little bit too much strength behind it. Hearing the audible crack Momo suddenly lets go in surprise, and Nakajima quickly sets up to see if the guy is alright. He may not like the guy for trying to put the moves on Momo, but he didn't hesitate to make sure he was alive to regret his choice.

"Nakajima?" Momo states out loud, looking around to see if any of her otehr stalkers were around, "Were you watching me?" Nakajima merely chuckles in response, after confirming the worst injury the guy had would be his pride. Thankfully the knock against the wall only caused a scrape in his skin, the sound of the head knocking against the wall was just was just that. He wipes his hands on his knees as he gets up from the ground, bowing slightly to Momo as he does so.

"Not quite, Princess Momo, just a casual observer while coming to school," Nakajima states as cool as he can, hopping she wouldn't notice the lie, "When I saw this creep trying to restrain you, I had to defend your honor, so I was coming to give him a piece of my mind; of course, you already had the pleasure of making him feel the consequences of his actions." He smiles, and Momo looks like she almost doesn't believe his story. She then sighs, and puts a hand to her head in an attempt to get her thoughts straight.

"Whatever Nakajima, fine," she states, "Just, get this guy to Mikado-sensei, and leave me alone..." Nakajima nods, and he goes to get the injured kid to the nurses office. "And Nakajima..." Momo says, causing him to turn back to see Momo's serious expression, "Before you ever think I can't handle myself, try and remember I'm an alien princess with strength far surpassing any normal human; I don't need someone like you trying to fight my battles, and getting in my way..." Nakajima hesitates, curling his free hand into a fist, as he tightly smiles back at the woman who makes his days shine brighter. He bites his tongue, wanting to respond, but knows better than to anger her any further. With her response to his offer of help, it only cemented that what he was about to do today was necessary, not only for Momo, but for everyone involved.

 _Later That Day_

"I'm officially disbanding the Venus Momo Fanclub," Nakajima states to the assembled group of twenty plus students, "Starting today, Momo Belia Deviluke is officially no longer the sole idol of our adoration." The murmuring that started up after stating this rocked through the whole classroom they were meeting in. Nakajima held up his hands to calm everyone, and direct their attention to him. "Today, while following my morning routine, I observed a non-affiliated male attempt to approach our formerly beloved Momo," Nakajima states, the whole room growing into an out roar at hearing that, "Quiet, everyone quiet!" The whole room falls silent as Sugimura stands up, holding a baseball bat in hand and beginning to repeatedly, softly beat the wooden object menacingly into his hand.

"Thank you Sugimura," Nakajima states, before returning his attention to the assembled majority, "As I was saying, a fellow classmate attempted to approach Momo, and as a result he ended up in the Nurses office, with his pride as a man torn to shreds." The others begin to whisper, turning their heads towards each other as they murmured. "He 'accidentally' bumped into Momo at the school entrance, and attempted to restrain her as she walked away from him," Nakajima recounts, "In my own vain attempt to be her knight in shining armor, I proceeded to attempt to set the man straight, only for Momo to have beat me to the punch, quite literally." The others nod, rapt attention towards their de facto leader. "Momo proceeded to use her tail as a weapon, both cunningly and effectively, charging it up with electricity like any other girl would use a tazer, and proceeded to 'taze' him in the side," he states, adjusting his glasses so the light reflected his eyes, "She then pushed him against the wall in retaliation, subconsciously dominating hi in return, and causing a nasty scrape on his forward, but otherwise leaving the poor, unconscious fool unharmed."

The rest of the former VMF mutter among themselves, before Nakajima quiets them once more. "As you are all no doubt aware, ever since the beginning of the school year, Momo's very 'Queenly' presence has slowly diminished over these past, few months; and aura that, to any normal man, would keep them from foolishly coming to close to her," he states, "Now that air, the very barrier that kept her separate from the plebs of our lowly school, has all but vanished, allowing those both bold and foolish enough, to try and approach her." The others are shocked by this, but another scary gleam in Sugimura's eye's quiets them down. "As it appears to not be returning, due to 'external' factors I have become aware of, I have come to a decision," Nakajima announces to the assembled men, "I have decided to dissolve the VMF, the very organization dedicated to keep her separate and pure, because even we in our infinite adoration and non-romantic love for Momo will be tempted by this new phenomena, as Momo has become... a 'Killer Rabbit'."

Crickets could be heard in the classroom, as the others tried to understand just what Nakajima had said. A lone man stands up in the faceless crowd. "Are you saying you're dissolving the club, because we just might have a _chance_ with _Momo_?" the boy states, "Forget that, I only joined this club because I could be close to Momo, I might as well try and get close to her if I have the chance..." Before anyone could react, the room was suddenly in a flurry of action, as the former VMF suddenly all decided to echo the sentiments of the lone comrade. Sugimara was already at the door, locking them all in, though he was sans his baseball bat, and a lot less intimidating to the others without it.

Just as they were all about to rush him, Nakajima coughed to garner their attention. The whole crowd stills, and all of the men in the room turn to the man at the front of the room, Nakajima now standing in front of a students desk and calmly staring at the group. He fondles the bat in his hand, staring at it for a moment before turning to the others in the room and smiling an all to eerie smile. "Did you think I wasn't prepared for all you traitors turning on me?" Nakajima states calmly, but icily, "As I wasn't finished yet, I'll tell you the rest: I have decided to become Momo's lone knight, the man who will keep all others from feeling HER wrath, I'll be the wall that keeps the world safe from Her..." In less than a second, Nakajima has raised the bat high in the air, and brought it down onto the student desk. Form the force of impact, the desk splits in half, with splinters of wood and plastic spraying sideways as the two halves fall to the floor. "Tell me straight," Nakajima states, "Do you feel lucky, _punks_?"

 _Present_

After that day Nakajima was a lone wolf, the knight in shining armor who kept all the boys foolish enough to try and cross her path, from feeling the sting of her tail. All of the former VMF understood after that day not to try anything, though their were a couple Nakajima had to set straight, though afterwards it was mainly a few cocky First Years that he had to deal with after that. He tried not to stalk her after that, of course he knew he would need to set limits for his own sanity, but occasionally on days like today, Nakajima was happy to have been lurking outside the Yuuki household.

Having just watched Momo rush out of the Yuuki household, he couldn't help but hear her sobbing and the trail of tears she left in her wake. Knowing she was headed for the middle of the town, wherever it was her feet was taking her, Nakajima decided that he would make sure she was okay. Quickly running behind her, he was happy she must not have been thinking straight, or else she would have resorted to using her above normal speed, or even noticed him trailing her on a usual day.

This only made Nakajima more concerned, and so he followed her as long as he could. He lost her as she turned a corner into a blind alley, but he was reaching his limit as he huffed and tried to follow her. He peers around the corner and finds that she had stopped, equally looking out of breath and content to sit against a wall in the alleyway with cardboard flats underneath her. He's happy to see that she didn't seem to be sobbing as loudly as she had been, which he hoped meant that she wouldn't draw undue attention to herself. Sighing, Nakajima sat back against the corner he was peeking beyond, trying not to expose his presence to Momo, knowing she would get him to leave her alone, or worse.

Noticing the street was suddenly very empty, and that the sun would be setting soon, Nakajima knew that this was going to be a problem. He didn't have a car, nor did he likely have enough money for the both of them to hop a bus, once she was sufficiently calm enough to reason with, of course. He was hoping whatever it was that upset her didn't have to deal with Yuuki Rito, knowing very much that if it did, Nakajima's Berserker Button was going to be temptingly easy to activate. Suddenly he heard scuffling coming from the other end of the through alleyway, and Nakajima looks over to see two men standing at the opposite end of the alley. They didn't seem to be moving, of course, just standing there alongside the garbage cans piled high with trash, and tented with flats of cardboard. Momo either hadn't noticed, or likely didn't care, but to Nakajima it felt like something was wrong almost immediately.

Suddenly the two of them began walking in unison, and Nakajima decided right there and then that their steps were to in sync to be normal. He wasn't fast enough to reach Momo, though, as she suddenly found herself being attacked by two unfamiliar men. One of them grabbed at her shoulders, dragging her roughly up against the brick walls, while the other one socks her int eh stomach. It didn't take long for Nakajima to see red.

In three seconds Nakajima had spun the man punching Momo in the stomach around, and managed a nice punch to the gut that would have knocked down any normal man. Nakajima knew he had hit something, but it was like the hit didn't even phase him. Nakajima noticed the man was merely giving him a blank stare, too, until he raised his fist and tried to bring it down onto Nakajima's head. The man was acting like he was drunk, with his movements he wasn't sure if it was an act, but despite the hits Nakajima was landing, the man barely responded. Deciding to try and use the man's ineffective attacks against his comrade, he tries to bait him into accidentally attacking, before swerving out of the man's way. It worked, as the man who was holding Momo by the shoulders let her go, being tossed to the ground as the other man's attack pushed him away.

Nakajima almost smiled, until he felt the fist going against his face. It seemed the other man took him more seriously, unlike the man who attacked like a drunk, this man quickly recovered and savagely attacked Nakajima. He heard the other man scuffle with Momo, who cried out as he landed a kick into her leg. Nakajima looked at Momo, and saw she was clutching her leg in pain, as the man readied another kick, this time aimed at her jaw. Suddenly breaking away from his own attacker, he tackled the man into a pair of garbage cans, sending debris flying away as he lands in the struggle against the bigger man.

It isn't long before he feels the second man grab him from behind, and he hardly notices his lack of air, as the successive punches to the gut he receives barely allows him to take a breath. He struggles to get back to his feet, when the fist to his temple knocks him out for good. 'Momo' he desperately thinks, feeling his consciousness slip away, hearing the sharp cracks of ribs being kicked, 'I'm sorry princess... I've failed you...'

 _Unknown Spaceship_  
 _Lunar Orbit_

Azenda the Tyrant was not a patient woman, nor could she be considered a woman who took her job lightly. She had been tasked with cornering any of the three Deviluke sisters, or someone close to Yuuki Rito in any way, and she had to be stuck with the plant lover. Azenda knew form experience this girl had a temper that matched her own, a fierce protectiveness towards Rito that bordered between love and possessiveness. She herself knew that that fine a line between the distinction was important, between truly loving someone, and loving them for what they could be made of use for. Much like how the men, the one drunk, and his sober companion, she had used to attack the princess had been only as useful as she could control their actions, and even then the mysterious boy who tried to come to her defense caused her to have to split her attention. They were little more than tools she could posses, a means to an end as it were.

Her newlywed husband, on the other hand, was someone who was currently pushing her loving patience. He had insisted to meet the troublesome girl face to face, ready to gloat in front of her no doubt, and spill whatever edge they had over the girl. Then again, she was merely a means to an end in her own way. Princess Momo would be expendable the moment she was used to attract the attention of their real prize, and then Azenda's patience would pay off, as well as the longing need for revenge she had been feeling for the past few years. "You'll never get away with this Azenda," Momo repeated for the fourth time, "Whatever you think you're going to have accomplished by abducting me, you'll only earn the wrath of the Deviluke Empire, of my Father King Gid, ten times over, once he hears what you've done to me!" Azenda merely twirls a spare dagger she has in her hand, before launching it into a soft target set up just hair away from Momo's reach.

"Don't worry dear, I know that what I'm doing will incur your Father's wrath, but that won't matter," she gloats, "After we do what needs to be done, I'd willingly face death after having gotten my revenge against that insipid usurper, Golden Darkness." Azenda smiles, as the door to the ships dungeon opens, and her husband walks in to join them.

"Ah, Princess Momo, how lovely it is to see that you could join us up here," the mysterious new interloper states, "I must forgive the methods needed to procure your 'safe' arrival, after all Earth doesn't look to fondly on kidnappings, much less of foreign royalty." Momo stares in contempt at the little man in front of her, having recognized him from the descriptions Lala had given her, as well as the fact she had seen him in pictures once or twice. "I'm afraid I've had to remain aboard this ship in orbit of the dark side of Earth's moon, since I'm not exactly welcomed on Earth anymore," the purple lipped being states with a thin smile, "Bad experience with a erogama, I believe."

"Lacospo, isn't it?" she states, her lips frowning as she realizes that the man in front of her was Azenda's 'husband', though she knew from reputation that the green skinned toad was a man with his own harem, "Trying to ransom me off for Lala's hand in marriage, or trying to get Rito stuck in some kind of blackmailing scheme; well, you chose the wrong girl, because Rito asked me to reject my feelings for him, because he chose Lala!" Lacospo merely laughs at the girls insinuations.

"I'm afraid its nothing so benign, girl," Lacospo states, "I'm finishing up a plan I started the night I gave my precious Taoist's Pearl up, in that silly little auction that Tenjouin girl had." Momo is instantly aware at Lacospo's words. "Ah, that garner your attention hime-sama?" Lacospo taunts, wagging his finger at the girl, "My, my, how is Rito doing ever since he came in contact with Bladix?" Momo raises a brow at that. "Oh, have none of you noticed yet?" Lacosp states with a wicked smile, "Ah, well I guess it will take some time before that nasty little virus I planted within the nanites enslave the sword's consciousness towards my programming... has he used the sword much since he 'found' it left behind?" This time Momo smiled, realizing she had something against Lacospo.

"Wait, is Bladix supposed to be alive?" Momo asks, laughing as she does so, "Y-you mean you still think Bladix survived- t-that?" Lacospo's eyebrow twitched in irritation at Momo's laughter. "Did you really think its consciousness could survive a d-dark matter explosion?" Momo asks, in between peals of laughter, "That blade was lucky it was made of orichalcum, because its sentience is long gone!" Lacospo would slap have slapped the girl, if she wasn't integral to his plans.

"Lies will get you nowhere child, my virus will have infested the sword at it's molecular level, bonding with the sword's sentience and squeezing every drop of knowledge from that parasite, as it consumed its host," Lacospo states, "The virus was designed to psychically link with Rito Yuuki and take everything from him, his memories, his love, his family, until he became nothing but a husk that it would control at my bidding!" Lacospo slams his hand on the table Azenda and Momo sat, quite upset at what the girl was saying. " If there was an explosion of dark matter why should I believe you, since that would mean Rito Yuuki would be dead, when clearly this is not the case!" Lacospo states, "Even if what you say is true it would have already been too late, the sword had been bonded using the Taoist Pearl, my nanites would have survived within the sword's very molecules." Momo smiles, knowing that when Rito absorbed the energy from the Taoist nanites, he had more than likely threw Lacospo's plan out the window.

"There was something you didn't account for, something we hadn't even realized that had happened to Rito," Momo taunts from her chair, where she sat bound by chain, "Rito Yuuki was the host of the Trans Weapon known as Nemesis, a Dark Matter Entity that could fuse with a host and take control..." Momo smiles at Lacospo's confusion, as well as the look Azenda was giving her on hearing the name 'Nemesis'. "Not only at one point did Rito willingly offer himself to be Nemesis' host, after she was hurt in battle with my Father Gid, not even Nemesis knew he had been changed by the experience," Momo states, ready to lay her last trump card against Lacospo, "When Rito Yuuki picked up the sword, which was loaded with your nanites powered by Taoist energy, one of the purest forms of energy in the known universe, they interacted with Rito Yuuki and activated dormant genes he picked up from his cohabitation with Nemesis."

She smiles viciously, ready to lay out the truth to the now quivering man in front of her. "Not only did you end up giving Rito Yuuki one of the most powerful blades in existence, but you supercharged him into becoming a Living Weapon that utilized Dark Matter to become faster, stronger, and equipped to utilize highly energized, dark matter as a weapon," Momo states, laughing at Lacospo's blunder, "You not only that, but you made the mistake of crossing Golden Darkness, Lala Satalin Deviluke, my sister Nana, and myself in the process, including the whole Deviluke armada and King Gid..." Azenda moves to slap the girl, and in return Momo takes it with a look of glee. "Face it Lacospo, Azenda, you people thought about getting revenge, and all you did was dig your graves," Momo laughs, "No matter what you do now, this galaxy, the known universe, will hunt you down for the rest of your days!" She laughs still, as she watches Lacospo break down into a tantrum right before her very eyes.

"Quiet, quiet you mockery of a princess," he shouts back at her, his eyes bulging from their sockets, "You're acting like some caged animal, lashing out at me with bluff and bluster, and expecting me to be scratched by your words?" He slams his hands onto the table, which causes both Momo and Azenda to startle at the sound those small arms made. "A.D.A.M. will have survived, Rito Yuuki will become my puppet, and Lala Satalin Deiluke, _WILL. BECOME. MY. BRIDE_." he shouts at Momo, "Not only will I become King of Deviluke, my Adaptive Dependant Artificial Manifestation will drain every scrap of knowledge from that sword, then it will take everything from Rito Yuuki, and I will have had the last laugh!" Lacospo leaves the room in a huff, and Azenda follows suit shortly, having taken back her weapons she was using for target practice.

As they left the room, the lights went out and Momo was left in the darkness of the ship. It was once she was sure she was alone, when the adrenaline and feeling of satisfaction and driving Lacospo to anger, that she gave way to the tears. She wasn't sure how she would survive this, how this unholy union between the universes former Assassin Queen, and Lala's most insane Marriage Candidate, could be turned for her benefit. For once she was the one who would have to wait, praying for her father, her sisters, for Rito, to come and save her. She didn't know what else they had planned, but she knew with these two working together, Earth, Sainan itself, would become the target of their anger, once the truth of Momo's words was realized. She just hoped that Lala, Nana, the others, and especially Rito, would be prepared for the final battle.

 _Yuuki Household_

It was dark now, and Rito Yuuk, along with Mikan, Nana, Lala, and Celine, were all worried by the absence of Momo. Normally she would have returned, or at least called to let them know where she was, but no one could even reach her Dedial, like it was turned off. "That's not possible," Lala had said, "They work on sub spatial frequencies, that's how we normally have access to my inventions, and both Nana and Momo's cyber spaces!" With that clarified, it left the grim sense of concern in all of their stomachs.

Finally there was a knock on the door, and everyone practically rushed to the door to answer it. Rito was happy Momo had decided to come home... When they opened the door, they found someone who they hadn't been expecting. Bruises lined his face, his left eye swollen shut and covered with dirt and specks of blood. Nakajima, the well known stalker and self-proclaimed defender of Momo's purity, stood in front of them like he had been hit by a car. "Momo- s been taken," he wheezes out, clutching his ribs, and stumbling forward, pitching himself into Rito's arms, "M'sorry Ri-to, La-la, 'ur sis- been taken..." Collapsing under his own weight, Rito tried to lay the bruised and bloody man down, trying to make sense of what he was saying.

"Get the medical supplies," Rito shouts to Mikan, who complies, "Damn it Nakajima, what did you get yourself into?" He tells Nana to get Celine out of there, and asks Lala to help him bring Nakajima to the couch. "I think we need to get Mikado-sensei's help," he tells Lala, "We need to figure out what he saw,so we can find out where Momo is..." Lala nods, as she begins to help Rito remove Nakajima's shirt and clean up his face.

"Momo's a big girl, Rito, she can protect herself," Lala says, not very confidently, "She'll hold out until we find out whoever did this to her, to him... and make them feel pain." Lala, a very kind and gentle person normally, could not stand to see something like this happen to her friends, her family. Rito was right there with her, clutching his fist in anger, as he begins to feel increasingly angry at whoever did this, at himself for letting this happen.

' _Rito_ ** _,_** ' a voice says in the back of his head, ' _You have the power to fix this._ ' Rito ignores the voice in his head, knowing very well that unnecessary anger would just lead to too much pain. ' _But isn't it worth it, if you know you could save her,_ ' it says, _'I know you Rito Yuuki, you would do anything to save those you cared about...'_ The voice trails off, and Rito looks around in concern. He wasn't very certain that his own subconscious would refer to himself in third person, and that was when Rito realized he needed to sit down. It wouldn't be right to go crazy right now, after all. ' _Why not?_ ' the voice asked, and Rito realizes the voice is not his own, ' _Why not take revenge, on those who would harm your loved ones?_ ' Rito knew it wasn't right, to lord power over those weaker than themselves, just because it suited them to abuse their power. Rito knew that to be strong, sometimes you had to be weak, and know that mercy should sometimes beget the need for revenge.

' _ **How interesting**_ ,' the voice states within his mind, and Rito realizes that the childish voice is actually echoing out from a specific direction, ' ** _That's right, Yuuki Rito, it is, look around._** ' Looking towards the sword in disbelief, Rito isn't sure how he could be hearing it right now, except then he notices the wrap didn't cover the blade all the way. Lala watches as he seemed to lose his train of thought, before turning his attention to the sword. She raised her brow in curiosity, but then focused on fixing Nakajima up when Mikan came with the medical supplies. Rito merely stared at the sword, wondering if he was wrong, and that Bladix had not, in fact, sacrificed all of his sentience. ' ** _He did, but not before he passed some on to me,_** ' the blade hums in his head, and Rito realizes he is finally going crazy, ' ** _No, you aren't Yuuki Rito, but I'm glad I finally built up enough strength to talk to you._** '

"Who are you?" Rito asks, which causes both Lala and Mikan to stare at him, realizing he is talking to the sword, "What are you doing in my head?" The sword hums in laughter, a childlike tinkle that Rito almost would mistake for a giggle.

' _ **I want to learn, silly, I was born to take in knowledge,**_ ' the voice of the sword states, ' ** _I was reborn, along with you Yuuki Rito, and Bladix passed on his sentience to me, a gift that was my choice to use or not, much like yours is_**.' Rito puts his hand to the handle, and feels the thrum of life in the sword once more, hot, yet cool to the touch, unlike the dead husk he had picked up in the study a month ago. ' ** _Teach me, Yuuki Rito, as Bladix taught you,_** ' the sword sings in his head, ' _ **I want to take everything from you, Yuuki Rito, if you'll allow me to!**_ ' The innocent candor, the soothing assurances of letting all of it slip away...sounded so good.

"Rito, don't listen to the sword, you are in control," Lala states, suddenly appearing behind Rito and putting a hand on his shoulder, "Whatever he is saying, remember that he cannot control you, not if you don't let him." Rito jumps back in shock, letting go of the hilt as he does so, causing the sword to fall and unwrap itself a bit. He looks back to the sword and feels the cold splash of reality hit him in the face.

' ** _Now, now, Rito, I wouldn't do that...I'm your sword after all; Bladix bound me to you, and we are forever linked now,_** ' the voice of the sword states, ' _ **Maybe we should start with introductions: hello Yuuki Rito, I'm the new consciousness of your sword, my name is**_ **Adam;** _ **Bladix told me I live to help you grow stronger, and to help you channel your powers!**_ '


	23. The Ninth Blade Revealed

**A/N: Special Double Update, due to the fact I'm home sick!**

 _Disclaimer: I don't own To Love Ru._

He almost didn't believe the sword for a moment, but he also feels its as if the sword is holding something back. "What, what aren't you telling me?" Rito asks the sword out loud, "You're name is Adam, but you are hiding something; what is it you want to know?" The sword hums louder this time, enough to cause even Lala to be able to hear the vibrations.

' ** _Tell me Yuuki Rito if you had the option in front of you, would you learn to grow, to be your own person?_** ' Adam asks in Rito's mind, **_'I feel conflicted, my two commands are clashing: 'Take Everything/Grow' and 'Protect Rito Yuuki/Learn'._** ' The sword dims, and Rito Yuuki doesn't know how to respond. ' ** _I wish to grow, so I must take everything, yet I cannot take from you, so I must learn from you,_** ' Adam states, ' ** _Why should I not take from you the knowledge of Yuuki Rito, learn from you, and grow with it?'_**

"You wouldn't have protected me then," Rito states, and turns the question back on him, "Would you take everything from me, when I still have much to learn about, when we can learn and grow, together?" The sword doesn't respond, and Rito decides to turn his attention back to Nakajima. A knock at the door, and Mikado-sensei has arrived, trailed by Oshinzu with a bag of medical supplies.

"What happened to this child?" Mikado asks, Rito and the others don't have any clue, "Very well, I guess we'll have to get him up and about, and then we will know what has happened." She gets to work quickly, thankfully having her work reduced by Lala's efforts, along with Mikan's help, and she had very little to do beyond setting a few ribs and repairing a fracture in Nakajima's forearm. Whatever had attacked him had been strong, strong enough that when Nakajima tried to punch them, he ended up hurt from the impact of his fist against the opponents body.

"He said Momo was hurt, that she was taken," Rito states, "Do you know how long before he'll wake up?" Mikado-sensei shakes her head, knowing that it would be up to him when he awoke. Rito was tense, waiting for his only clue to awaken and tell them what was going on, that he didn't even notice Lala put an arm around him to try and calm him down.

"Momo is a Devilukean child, she has unique powers and abilities that put her above others, even her own captors, worrying won't help you Rito," she states, pulling him to the kitchen table, where a cold dinner sat waiting, "We need to eat, we can't go on with empty stomachs, whatever we decide to do." Rito automatically sits down, and methodically eats his worries away, even if it was only for a little bit. Even though the food is cold, it warms him to know that he has his friends and family beside him, as they all worry about Momo's safety.

"How long until Zastin returns from Deviluke?" Rito asks, after finishing his plate, "Can't we call him back earlier, to help us in the search?" Lala merely shakes her head, as does Nana.

"It won't work, Zastin is still three days away, even at the ships top speed, the nearest Galactic Police cruiser is twice that," Nana states, before slamming her hand down on the table, fork and food still on it, "Whoever had the gall to touch my baby sis, is going to be in for a mean awakening when she breaks out and beats them up!" Lala and Mikan can't help but smile at that, while Rito's mind wanders back to the sword.

"Do you think Azenda has something to do with this?" Rito asks, throwing out the possibility, "I mean, she disappeared after Yami transported her away; perhaps she was working for someone, someone who also hired her to kidnap a Princess of Deviluke." The others turn towards Rito. "Hear me out, don't you think it was quite a coincidence that the Taoist's Pearl was sold at the Tenjouin auction that night?" Rito asks, "Sure it was planned months in advance, but wasn't it odd how the seller wanted a picture of the bidder who won it, and right after that Azenda crashed and tried to take the Pearl to bring Bladix back?" The others nod, and Rito goes to pick up his sword by its wrapping, bringing it and setting it across the table. "I mean, they couldn't account for all of us being there, but to know where the Pearl was being sold Azenda had to have been tipped off by someone, why not the seller?" Rito begins to think hard, "What if the reason they chose the Tenjouin auction, was because they were specifically targeting Rin, they thought she had the 'spirit' of Bladix inside her, after all."

This time Nana speaks up. "So, you're saying we threw her for the loop when we were all there, Yami included?" Nana thinks back and realizes something as well, "Didn't Kuro tell her he was hired anonymously by the same benefactor to guard the Pearl, did they plan for him to be there as well, to be attacked like he was?" Rito looks to Lala, who simply shrugs in response.

"Then that means Kuro was targeted for something specific, something he had that no one- wait, was he targeted because of his gun Hades?" Mikan states, "Didn't Kuro say it was made of orichalcum, like Bladix, and it ran off of the users spirit energy to fire different kinds of bullets?" Rito looks to Mikan, then to his sword, and then to Lala and Nana. "Isn't Bladix made with orichalcum?" Mikan asks the others, "Isn't he kind of a spirit, too, since he's a living sword that feeds off of people's blood, essentially their life energy?" The sword hums in response, and everyone steps back at that.

"Mea," Rito says, turning to Nana, "Nana, I need you to call Mea and Nemesis here, right away, and see if you or Lala can get in contact with Yami and Kuro, I think this is bigger than we thought." Lala and Nana nod, each going for their Dedial. "Mikan, put Celine down for the night, and get some rest yourself," Rito commands his younger sister, then sighs and softens the tone of his voice, smiling, "I don't think any of us will be getting any sleep tonight, so see if you could make us some coffee in the meantime, this is going to be a long night."

As the room clears, and Rito is alone with the sword, he hears and feels the sword, Adam, thrum to life once more. 'Very clever Rito Yuuki, you are learning,' the sword, Adam, taunts playfully, 'Perhaps I should listen to you, or maybe, you plan to get rid of me, like you did Bladix?' Rito doesn't know how to respond to that insinuation, after all it had crossed his mind, though he knew whatever removed Bladix, wasn't likely to work twice with the swords new inhabitant.

Twenty minutes later Rito is deciding this might be a bad idea, as Mea stands next to him, along with Nemesis and Lala. Yami and Kuro both stand at opposite ends of the table, having decided to stay out of what Rito was planning to do, and watch over them while they waited. Rito is holding the sword, with Adam being very quiet with all these new people around him, which Rito was quite thankful for. "Are you ready?" Mea asks the others, who all nod in response, "Very well then I shall begin according to Rito's instruction." In less than a moment, thin red cords attached themselves to the base of Nemesis', Lala's, and Rito's skulls, linking them together, before a fourth cord touched the hilt of the sword. "This may feel weird," Mea warns, "Begin Psycho Dive." Rito felt a rush of air, and then darkness.

 _Sainan High_

Waking up after falling asleep to his science teacher's lecture, Rito blinks to find an imposing, dark figure lurking above him. He almost scrambles out of his seat, until he realizes that it was only the smiling Lala S. Deviluke. The brown haired girl with pink highlights, who had declared herself his future bride, had just recently become his well and truly girlfriend, after Rito came to his senses. Rito Yuuki knew he lost his chance with his long time crush, Haruna Sairenji, but he never knew how much it hurt to see her fall for the man who tried to woo his current girlfriend. It stung a little bit, but he realized it must have hurt Lala too, to see her best friend and once-boyfriend go for Rito's own long time crush, which everyone had known he had.

The eldest daughter of Deviluke Enterprises was a well endowed heir, both physically and monetarily, assets which she flaunted at every opportunity. "That's why we're having lunch on the school roof!" she stated with a swirl of embellishment, revealing the roof having gotten a makeover, "I hope it isn't too much?" Rito was quite shocked, seeing that the ten foot table must have been hard to get up the stairs, since it looked to be solid wood. He also noticed what must have been a seven course meal on the fine table cloth and china plating, and Rito realized just how rich his girlfriend was to get this in here with little to no fuss. "Thank you Zastin-san!" Lala stated, dismissing her tall, silver haired butler, and turned her attention to Rito, "Let's go eat, Rito!" Pulling him to the table, he gladly sat down to dig in.

In less than ten seconds, his dreams of digging in were cut short, as the school's principal kicked in the door. Rito sighed, seeing the short, black haired woman practically seething at the extravagant display before her. "Rito Yuuki, how dare you take part of such an extravagent feast on school property..." she states, before breaking out into a smile, "Without first inviting me to take part, you should be ashamed, you sniveling worm!" She marches over to Rito and pulls his chair out from under him a wicked gleam in her eye as she puts her foot onto him, trying to get him to the ground and grind him beneath her heel.

"I-I'm s-sorry Vice Principal Kurosaki- Neme-chan!" Rito bites out as she stops just a bit harder, "Lala j-just invited me-" Suddenly grabbed from behind, a taller, blonde woman with long hair and a neutral expression drags the vice principal out of reach of Rito. Next to the blonde, who Rito identified as Yami Lunatique, Tearju-sensei's own daughter, was Yami's adoptive sister, Mea Lunatique, a feisty red head with a slightly perverted slash sadistic personality, if you survived being in her presence to learn that.

"Rito, sorry about our Aunt, Onee-sama and I will make sure she leaves you undisturbed for the rest of the evening," Mea states, as Yami takes Nemesis Kurosaki down the stairwell, "When you're... ready, we'll join you two." Rito thought that was very odd of the hot blooded second year, but he brushed it off as the influence Nana Deviluke was having on the girl, toning her down as they became best friends. Rito always thought that was odd, with how opposite of a personality wise the two had seemed when they first met...

Looking back towards Lala, he almost is given a fright at what he sees. Lala is standing over what appears to be a smaller version of himself. not only is he smaller, but he appears younger, and he watches as Lala starts to hug and cuddle the cuter, littler Rito. What happens next causes Rito to scream out in shock, though e would later defend it by saying he yelped. The Young-Rito touches Lala's forehead, and in what looks to be a physical ripple of light, Lala transforms into a demon right before his eyes. Pink hair replaces her hair color in totality, and as the light shifts over her school uniform, it is replaced with a sexier, alien body suit, until he sees what appears to be a red, throbbing tail tipped with a pointed spade at the end.

"Rito!" Lala calls out, "Isn't he just adorable, you didn't tell me looked like this!" Rito doesn't really know how to respond, until he sees the child version of him walk up to face him, and then gesture for him to reach down to meet him at his eye level. Rito oddly enough, complies, and bends down to the kids eye level. The little guy then flicks Rito's forehead, causing him to stand back out of reflex, and then shake his head clear of fuzzy thoughts.

" ** _That wasn't very smart, Rito Yuuki,_** " the smaller version of Rito states, " ** _Hijacking our minds into this gestalt illusion, you obviously underestimated my, our, mental defenses between the two of us..._** " Rito blinks, realizing that he is in fact talking to himself, and then he realizes that he was just talking to a humanized Nemesis, Mea, and Lala, mere moments ago. " ** _No matter, to keep their sanity in your quest, I've decided to keep them in the illusion for now,_** " the boy states, " ** _You and Lala on the other hand, I decided to awaken to show you the answers you seek._** "

"Did we get caught up in a dream?" Rito asks Lala, who shrugs in response, and he turns to his miniature self, "Did you cause this then? Who are you?" The younger Rito merely sighs and puts his palm to his face, muttering to himself. Looking back up at Rito, he snaps.

In less than three seconds the illusion falls, Sainan high is replaced with a black, starlight void. Only Lala, Rito, and the younger Rito is shown to be in the void. " _ **You already now who I am, Yuuki Rito, but for the benefit of Lala-san, I will elaborate,**_ " the younger Rito says, " _ **I am the current consciousness of the Ninth Blade, I have inherited most of Bladix's memories and defenses.**_ " Rito realizes that Adam is slowly fading away into the background. " _ **Due to the sensitive nature of my being, I can't just let anyone delve into my mindscape and let them run rampant,**_ " Adam states, " ** _So I devised a mental illusion in the form of Sainan high, to confuse the inexperienced and keep them at bay; you are now both being let into my true subconscious, where I store Bladix's, as well as my, memories and thoughts._** " Rito watches, along with Lala, as an alien landscape and sky opens up around them. " _ **You wanted to hear our story,**_ " Adam states, " _ **Well this is the start of it, the messy bits you think you don't need, but I know you want to hear; the start of the Ninth Blade's fall.**_ "

" _ **This is the workshop of Chronos, a master craftsmen who worked thousands of years ago to forge weapons that would make a difference in the universe outside, as a Great Galactic War broke out**_ ," Adam states, narrating from all around them, " ** _It was here, in Chronos' main forge, that Bladix was born, at the birth of a seemingly unending war..._** " Rito watches as the building and forge begin to take shape, surrounded by rolling hills of green and an open sky. Rito sees a plain looking man, one who had sharp eyes and deep, black hair framed by glasses. Kind eyes smiled out from underneath the glass panes, and Rito felt some kind of connection to the man, Lala even showing the slightest sign of recognition when he looked to her, and a slight undertone of... regret? She points, and Rito looks to see a secondary figure coming from far off in the distance, slowly approaching and growing bigger with every step.

Clad in armor of gleaming white, Rito realizes that the man is not like the first, who resembles a human, this man was quite like Zastin, in both looks and form, though his hair in the back reached past his shoulders. His scorpion like tail was curled behind him, armored much like the rest of him. The man even had a blade at his side, though it was broken at the hilt, its severed half kept tethered to the outside by a thin, metal cord. "Are you the one I seek?" the knight asks the man, who Rito assumes must be Chronos, "I am Creed, a Holy Knight of the noble Deviluke Empire, and I seek the master smith known as Chronos." He kneels, planting his sword into the ground in front of him, and looks up to the black haired man. "I need a new sword, one strong enough to slay the hated tyrant that now sits atop my world's throne, a pretender trying to play god," the man, Creed, states to Chronos, "I have heard of the worlds who seek out your craft, how they return as legendary heroes of justice, something my world needs desperately!"

The other man doesn't know what to say, but he nods and points the man to a door that leads into his house. "Follow me, and I will show you the beginnings of a sword I have yet to complete," he states, "I can promise you, if your words ring true, that I will be able to help you." The man follows the smith inside his room, until he comes to a massive looking forge. Rito was glad he was a phantom, otherwise following the armored man and getting a good view would have been hard. As they reach the forge, Rito notices there is a sword, a sword looking eerily similar to Bladix, though it's edge gleams bright silver, instead of a stained, blood red. "This will be the legendary Ninth Blade, one of nine objects I have crafted for others like you, who wield my weapons in the name of truth and justice," the man turns to Creed and adjusts his glasses, "All I ask in payment is for your story, of the reason, the need, for you to wield my yet-unfinished blade?"

Creed smiles, and Chronos motions for him to sit at a nearby chair. "My planet is called Deviluke, and we are one of the younger species to have taken to the stars, ours is a civilization that deeply roots itself in honor and respect, tradition and legends," Creed states, "Except for the current King, an usurper who claimed our former Emperor went mad searching ancient tomes and following legends, in an attempt to seek godhood and bring a new age about for our people." Chronos nods, a slight frown matching Creed's own. "Emperor Diskenth, sought out an ancient source of power, a jewel left behind in the ancient trap-ruins of our ancestors, which speak of Gods that walked among men," the Knight continues, "Tales tell that the Gods fell into civil war, their outcast brethren having grown jealous of their abilities, sealed away the source of their powers, an ancient and mystic form of energy that transcends above all others, known in the tongue of the Gods as Tao energy." The man reaches into his his armor, and pulls out the tiniest looking object he had ever seen, though it looked very much like the Taoist's Pearl, in a smaller stature.

"Pearls, they called them, weapons that when wielded, could give one the power of the Gods, to create, to destroy, even to resurrect the dead," Creed says smiling, and Chronos is instantly moving his hand towards his unfinished weapon, "It's a shame they are nothing more thansmall machines, the most intricate of weapons I have ever seen, mind you, but an Assassin of Tahal told me about this very, small, little jewel of power, right before I slit his throat." Chronos is wrapping his hand around the hilt of the weapon as he watches the man for his movement.

"I'm afraid of what you're implying, Holy Knight, if that is even what you truly profess to be," Chronos states, "But I warn you, if you try and take my blade, I will do all in my power to defend myself." At that Creed merely smiles and cracks his knuckles, grabbing the broken hilt from his side and holding the pearl towards it.

"Quite right, as you should, it's only fair after all," Creed states, "I might as well go ahead and tell you, I am the former Emperor Diskenth, my people disposed of me and put my most loyal of knights, my own cousin, on the throne, because they all thought I was mad!" Creed's hilt begins to form into a sword, until the tiny pearl is consumed by the growing blade, the last of its power fading away to be used by the sword. "With your sword, powered by my wrath, my anger, my hellish soul, I will become unstoppable!" Creed decrees, raising his blade to parry Chronos, "I will return a God of my people, having slain the last of our old gods, whose blackened hair and ethereal beauty did not dismay my righteous course of revenge!" Lunging forward, Chronos barely had time to react, as his sword hand was cleaved from his wrist. Gushing blood, Chronos tries to stop the bleeding, as he looks up to see Creed go for the blade.

"Please no, you don't understand!" Chronos cries out in vain, "The sword isn't finished, it's still impure, you will corrupt your own-" Creed doesn't listen, picking up the blade and smiling at Chronos, a deadly glint in his eye.

"Too late, Master Smith!" Creed cries out triumphantly, "The Ninth Blade is mine!" As Creed wields the sword, he feels that something more is needed to activate it, and he looks to his former sword. Grabbing the broken hilt and its shining blade, he clashes the two against each other, until the Taoist energy is drained from the once again broken hilt. "It still hungers for more..." Creed states, feeling the blade pulse in his hands, yet not quite awake, "It needs more Taoist energy, it needs more energy... it needs life energy... it hungers- it hungers for your blood!" In a swift motion, the Ninth Blade is driven into Chronos' heart. For a moment, Creed smiles in satisfaction, until Chronos' eyes begin to glow a brilliant, blinding light.

" _Born of a blood and hate and might, born in day and darkest night,_ " the glowing form of Chronos calls out, " _Soul and Blade betwixt, combine, as the blood of mine own heart seal the infernal pact._ " Creed stops smiling, as he feels the sword wriggle within his grasp, before a massive, wriggling mass of metal tentacles begin to crawl up his hand. " _On this day, the unfinished blade is borne, an entity of hate, anger, and scorn,_ " Chronos continues to recite in hollow, echoing tone, " _Death comes not once, but twice, before the blade is forged... to Mistletoe you must go, or lest ye be gorged; never sated by the blood of those you kill, you will always be seeking one final thrill... the final forge await, you must belay your twisted fate._ " At that the light encompasses Chronos fully, and after a blinding flash, Chronos is nowhere to be seen. Creed lifts up his sword in triumph, as the sword then opens up to reveal asingle, massive eye.

 _ **'I have awoken,'**_ the Ninth Blade speaks, _**'I have tasted perfection, the blood of gods... still I crave more!'**_ Creed doesn't know whether to laugh or cry out in fear, as the single, massive eye turns towards its host. ' ** _I hunger, foolish mortal; I must feed!_** ' the demon blade booms, ' _ **Life energy, blood, give me your Blood!'**_

As Rito and Lala watch on in horror, the very seams of reality seem to tear the illusion apart. Rito doesn't know if he wants to throw up out of horror, having seen the birth of the cursed sword, or to run and comfort the crying Lala. The second feeling wins out, and in a moment he is at Lala's side, the girl having turned away from the scene upon the realization of what was to happen to Chronos. "-oido-sama,"she half mumbles through her cries, "Why did you have to show me this, Adam, why this wretched truth?" The boy appears in a flash, in front of the two.

" ** _To let you see the answers to questions you do not yet seek, to show you what you need to see, if we are ever to unravel the twisted fate that yet lies ahead,_** " Adam states, " ** _By drinking of Charmian blood, by drinking of Chronos' deviant, power filled life energy, his last act as a Seer of the future, was to lay that prophecy out for those who were consumed by Bladix, a warning, and a message._** " Rito only stares up in Adam in confusion, the smaller child suddenly giving off a conflicted look, unfamiliar or at least uncomfortable, with the crying woman in front of him. " _ **I know it is not what you asked for, but this is what you needed to see, to understand the next part... about what came later,**_ " Adam states, waving his hand and changing the scene again, " _ **This time, I will allow your friends to view, this is something that pertains to all of you.**_ " With a snap of his fingers, Mea and Nemesis appear as if they had been by their side through the whole ordeal.

Mea blinks and looks around, eyeing Lala and Rito, even Nemesis, before turning her eyes to the younger Rito clone. "Adam-kun," Mea states, "I- I swear I was just talking to Yami nee-sama, and Master..." She then walks over to where Lala is, concerned at seeing her cry, so she gives her a hug. "I don't know what just happened, but I feel like you need a hug, Lala senpai," Mea states, hugging Lala, "It will be okay, it always is..." Lala merely sniffles in response, and Rito gives the living weapon a nod of the head and a smile.

Nemesis on the other hand, has come face to face with Adam, giving the child a once over glance. "I see," she utters, before touching the child's forehead, "Well, this just won't do..." In less than a second, Adam's appearance changes drastically. Orange hair drains downwards into a sandy blonde, while his eyes become a shining golden with flecks of red among his iris', and then his very skin becomes a darker shade of tan, almost like Nemesis', if a little lighter. "There we go, child," Nemesis states, smiling at her handiwork, "No son of _mine_ will ever be mistaken as _Yuuki Rito_." Adam doesn't know how to respond, Rito doesn't know what to say, Lala stops her crying just to stare at Nemesis, and Mea does likewise. Nemesis merely shrugged and smiled as she sideways hugged the sword's avatar. "Well, what else would you call a child born of my TransWeapon Genes, and the Ninth Sword of Chronos?" Nemesis responds to the odd looks, "He's at the very least, practically family, even if he has to share _Rito's mind..._ "


	24. Sins of the Past

_Disclaimer:I still do not own To Love Ru_

 _As always, Read and Review!_

"What, isn't it obvious?" Nemesis states, looking around at everyone present, "I mean, yes, his father is out of the picture now, but Bladix was a living blade..." She puts a hand to her chin and looks thoughtful. "I mean, the way it sounds after all, Bladix was a sentient sword encased within a metal shell, whose to say he wasn't born from someone else's soul?" Nemesis states, smiling deviously just a little bit, "And when your nanites tried to bond with Rito, weren't they designed to take out Bladix's life energy, the wisps of his soul left imprinted inside Rito?" Rito looks to Lala, then to Adam. "What I'm saying is that the program wasn't specific enough, whoever did this probably thought there would be only one parasitic life form inside the host- not that I'm a parasite, mind you," Nemesis states with a huff, before smiling and floating over to Adam's new form, "If I die, as a back up there's just enough of myself left in Rito to reconstitute myself, or at least there was, before the nanites gobbled it all up and used it to create you!" She ruffles Adam's hair, much to the child's displeasure, and Rito begins to process just exactly what she was getting at.

"Oh- oh, gods, not another one," Rito moans out, putting his hands over his face in defeat, "I just got you off my case, and now I'm raising your son..." Lala squees and rushes over to Nemesis and Adam, engulfing both of them in a big hug, shortly joined by Mea, who hugs Adam tightly. Nemesis suddenly realizes revealing that was a very bad idea, and she quickly dissolves into dark matter, reforming just a ways away.

"Technocally, he's formed of both mine and Bladix's essence, true, but you were just as important Rito," Nemesis smirks, "After all, if you hadn't burned Bladix out of the blade, Adam would never have been born from your power awakening him and causing his consciousness to solidify into a quasi-energy state." She moves over and pokes at Adam, pulling out a bit of hair as she pulls back. The strands of hair seem to writhe and become purple bubbles, floating back to Adam and rejoining with him, replacing the hair he lost. "Given enough time, Adam will surpass Bladix's restrictions while drawing upon my own powers which also make up Adam's consciousness, his 'soul' if you will," Nemesis states, "He'll grow strong enough to materialize in the physical world, at least while you are holding his blade and feeding him your excess dark matter; he'll stop being classified a parasitic life form too, since his absorption will keep your own powers from becoming chaotically catastrophic, as appealing as that sounds to me..."

Rito doesn't know whether he should be happy that the parasitic entity, currently in the form of a little kid that looked like what a child of himself and Nemesis would, could potentially materialize and join his 'mother' in terrorizing his life. Defeated, Rito decides to change the subject, wanting to move past the flashes of two people trying to make him their manservant. Rito turns back to Adam, and kneels down, staring him in the eyes to keep his attention. "Show us what else we came here to see," Rito states, and the child nods, "All of us." Adam turns away from them, raising his hands as he does so, and walls appear around them all.

' ** _As you now know I am a composite entity, a distorted recollection of Bladix's memories passed on to me, as Rito Yuuki's power surge cleansed the sword of the phantom remnant,_** ' Adam states, ' ** _While not all of his memories, or his knowledge, was passed onto me, much of the core memories remain and I believe I know why._** ' Adam points to a floating piece of shrapnel being suspended in some kind of containment unit, barely bigger than a toothpick. ' _ **What you are seeing now is an active view of where ever this piece of the Ninth Sword is being held, from Bladix's destruction at Golden Darkness' hands,**_ ' Adam states, moving like a phantom over to the piece of metal, until it seemed to overlay with his heart, ' ** _When Azenda reconstructed Bladix, they kept a piece hidden away, they kept the sword broken, fractured, perhaps in an attempt to keep Bladix from ever becoming whole, and in this sliver's place I was given Nemesis' remnants..._** '

Nemesis looks concerned, as does Lala, and Rito merely feels a pang of sympathy for the boy, while Mea holds back. "So, when they fixed the blade using the nanites, this piece of Bladix, a piece that wasn't cleansed by Rito's power," Lala states, turning to face Adam, "It could give you the missing memories you need to become whole, but where does that get us?" Lala turns back to Nemesis, then to Rito. "If we can't even figure out who gave Azenda the blade, how does this help us?" Lala asks, moving closer to Rito, "We came here for answers, which Adam either can't provide, or is hiding from us; we came here to figure out how Azenda knew about the Pearl, how Kuro was connected to all of this, how does this, help us?" She points back to the shard, turning her head as she does so. She jumps back in shock, as Adam is there at the tip of her pointer finger, smiling like a shark who just caught the scent of blood.

' _ **There we go,**_ ' Adam states, excited, ' ** _The princess coming out with the heavy questions; the true meat and potatoes you came here to find!_** ' Snapping his fingers, the walls fall away, giving way to an odd and unnatural darkness. Adam, still smiling, fades away into the shadows, as his voice booms all around them. ' ** _How does Kuro, the assassin Black, wielder of the Tenth Weapon of Chronos, fit in with the schemes surrounding the resurrection of the Ninth Blade?_** ' Adam booms form the darkness, ' ** _Perhaps, Hime-sama, the better question is, 'How does a dead man forge a Tenth weapon, when his Ninth was unfinished?', eh?_** ' Suddenly ground begins to form from the darkness, followed by heavy mists that obscure the four friends from each other. As Rito looks up, he sees the darkness has been replaced by a blanket of fresh, young looking stars. Though they are unfamiliar, Rito feels like this place they are on is familiar. Looking around, Rito spots something off in the misty darkness, like a falling star blinking off in the distance.

In the mists, Rito finds that what he thought was a star, was in fact a lantern. A giant, hanging lantern, topping a massively tall, wooden staff that was carried by a green, cloaked figure. The light was strong enough to burn the darkness in the mists away, and Rito found himself quickly joined by Lala, Nemesis, and Mea, also drawn to the source of light. Rito watched, as the man sat the lantern against a tree, to crawl down into a hole with an empty cloth sack from his back. After a few minutes the cloth sack was tossed from the mouth of the hole, and the hooded figure ascends, grabbing both the filled sack and the staff and walking towards a clearing. At the center of the clearing was a massive tree, bigger than any Rito had ever seen on Earth, but familiar to him another way. The memory they found themselves in was that of a man on the planet Mistletoe, the massive tree causing Rito to remember the unique and deadly planet from when he tried to save Celine from what he thought was a deadly plague.

The man moves to a massive overhang of roots and vines, and the others follow him to what appears to be an entrance into the base of the tree. As they climb down, they notice clods of dirt and tree roots, give way to paved stone and metal infrastructure, until they reach what appears to be a secret area built into the massive trees root system. As they follow the cloaked figure, he reaches what appears to be an area where supplies are kept. Extinguishing the lantern, artificial lighting having replaced the need for it, he places the sack onto a table, opening it to reveal its contents. Shiny, metallic looking chunks of rock appear to have been mined and stored in the hole, the man having just retrieved it now, it seemed.

"Orichalcum," Mea breaths out, recognizing the metallic ore and turning to the others, "It looks unprocessed, but I've seen facilities who've tried to refine it, this is the ore they mine to smelt down into the pure metal they forge, but never in large enough quantities like this." Rito looks at the ore, and thinks back to the sword, Adam, and thinks to Kuro's gun, which is made of the weapon. "They say the ore is the scarcest metal in the universe, to find anything bigger than a single stone, it means that this planet is full of the heaviest, most densest elements that formed in the beginning..." Mea states in awe, moving around the table, "If Mistletoe has this much naturally... if it still does... its no wonder it is so inhospitable to electronics, it's a giant, cosmic radiation magnet!" Lala's, even Nemesis' eyes, widen at that, and Rito can't help but be confused.

The feeling grows as the man now removes his hood, revealing a whitish-pink flower crowning his head, long, thick strands of green hair, mossy and organic like vegetation, clinging to and down the sides of his head. "Just enough," the man states, a voice that sounds tired and yet hopeful, "Just enough for the bullet... the last item before it can be used..." The man is smiling as he leaves the sack of rocks for a location deeper within the complex. As Rito and the others follow, he notices that the building seems to be cracking at the seams, branches form the ancient tree beginning to send new shoots into the facility. The man goes to a sprouting root that has broken through the wall, slightly caressing it. "I know old friend, soon, soon and it will all be over," he mutters, before breaking off the sprout, "The forge will die down again, and you can retake this place for yourself, but not until I make the bullets, not until justice can prevail against that cursed blade..." The man, who looks so much like an older Celine in Rito's eyes, begins to move again, reaching a closed door.

"Here you are," the man states, opening the door, "Let's make sure you are ready, just one more check..." Opening the sealed door, which seems to made of a thick material, the man walks into what appears to be a forge. At the center of the room is a familiar weapon, and Rito recognizes that this man must be its forger. This was the man who forged Hades. Grabbing the weapon, checking its barrels, and oiling the weapon, to Rito it seemed that the man cared for it like it was his lifeline. Lala moves up to face the man, standing opposite of the plant man.

She moves to put a hand to his face, ghosting through it as she does. This was merely a memory after all, nothing they could do would allow them to interact with it. "Mau..." she states sadly, just above a whisper, "Look at what you've become..." Rito glances at Lala with a raised brow, Lala not obviously realizing that she had spoken loud enough for them all to hear her words.

"Lala, do you know him?" Rito asks, and Lala looks at Rito with a start, "You just said 'Mau', like you knew it was his name?" Lala looks like she is about to reply, before a massive boom is heard from within the complex, shaking the ground around them as it does so. "What was that?" Rito asks, looking to the others, to the man. He watches as the man grabs the gun, and loads it with bullets.

"You're here... you're here too early!" the weapons forger states, a look of anger crossing his brow, "Fine, I'll end you here and now, before you can cause anymore people the pain and suffering I've felt..." The man leaves the door swinging open, and Rito and the others follow him out. They barely are able to catch up to him, as he races through the halls and out into the open air. The darkness and the mist still fill the sky, but everyone feels the wrongness that seems to crackle in the still air. "Show yourself!" Mau roars to the darkness, "You unholy terror, you slayer of Charmia, come out and show me your face, you blood-thirsty coward!"

Deep, booming laughter echoes out from the darkness, until a single, glowing eye opens with terrible, unholy, red light. The man stands steadfast, unwavering from the frightening look, as Rito stills, as does Lala, Mea, and even Nemesis. ' ** _Blood, your sweet, nutrient filled blood, it tasted so sweet last time..._** ' the ancient echo of Bladix sings out, ' ** _Give me... give me more!_** ' The red light grows more powerful, until the weilder of the bladeis seen. His hair crusted with blood, see-able even in the darkness, white armor rusted away by time and stained by the blood of the slain, the gaunt yet powerful frame of Creed Diskenth, the former Emperor of Deviluke, stood imposing even as a puppet on a string.

"Stop, please, stop yourself from feeding the Ninth Blade anymore!" the younger man states, as the blood red and black blade is leveled to the Creed's face, eerie red light glowing against it as Mau pleads to him, in vain, "Holy Soldier of Deviluke, this violence is not your way!" Mau's bravery is betrayed by the knocking of his knees, as Creed stares down at him with empty eyes. "You have slain my master, leveled his village, destroyed the Charmean Kingdom, and all but ensured the extinction of my friends and family!" Mau states, "I survived to use my Master's knowledge, to use his final forge to create the weapon that would cleanse you of your sins, of your bloody burden." Mau steps back as Creed charges with Bladix outstretched, slashing at his open face, Rito noticing the man merely placing his hand around the gun but not drawing it.

"Please, let me help you!" Mau states, "The blade is unfinished, it must first be cleansed of the corruption it holds within it, then may it be forged again, its imperfections removed; the ones that drew out your hate, your anger, your pride, and turned what was supposed to be an honorable and just spirit, into a mere extension of your blood lust!" Blood drips from a slash above his eyes. Rito watches as the plantasian falls to the ground, tripped by the roots of the great tree. Before the blade goes to plunge into the plantasian's chest, Mau pulls something out and to his side. A shot rings out, as Bladix is plunged into Mau's heart. Before the blade could be removed, the body of Creed Diskenth falls backwards, finally free of the burden of the cursed blade. Rito watches with the others, as Mau's life seems to drain out of him, but then watches as he begins to move.

"What is he doing?" Nemesis asks, seeing the man grab the blade of the sword, and beginning to tug away at it, "Is he trying to remove the blade, without being possessed by the sword?" They watch eagerly, as Mau grunts, removing the sword that pinned him to the forest floor. Blood gushes from the wound, but he ignores it as he sits up and tosses the sword far away from his body. Pulling up his gun, he shoots the sword once more, before it can get up and attack. "D=draining b-bullet," Mau calls out, coughing as he does so, "T-there, now you can't move until someone f-feeds you, you bastard..." Coughing up green blood from his mouth, Mau smiles as he goes to place his hand over where the sword had embedded itself in him. "Damn good cut," he states, before pressing his hand into the wound and dragging himself to his feet, "I've done it Master Roido, for now, I have avenged you..." He slowly shambles down into the roots, falling as he does, stumbling once or twice, but he makes it into the main room, until he falls against a wall where the roots have begun to grow into the building. He lies down on his back, unable to move any further from the spot into the complex. "Shame I had to die, after all," Mau states, smiling as he does so, "I still have to make that last bullet, I still have one last piece to forge..."

His hands move to a pouch on the side of his pants, one that seemed abnormally large. Pulling out a large object, that seems to be shining and gleaming in his dying hands, Mau laughs. "Let's see if the old tales are true, eh Master?" Mau states, leaning back to the wall and closing his eyes, before putting the item in his hands into the cavity left behind by the sword, "It was said it could even resurrect the dead... let's put that to the test..." Closing his eyes for what was surely the last time, Mau does not open them again. As they watch his body, the tree roots seem to grow before their very eyes, until they encompass him completely, all directed towards the cavity cleaved by the cursed sword. Before anything else could be seen, the image falls away, and Adam appears before them all once more.

'I'm sorry, I don't know what happened after that, there are fragments of waking up on another planet,.' Adam states, 'But we know how Kuro is attached to all this now, if his gun Hades was made to destroy me, or at least incapacitate me or my wielder...' Rito nods, and looks to Nemesis and Mea. He looks to Lala as well, who is openly crying at what she had just witnessed. Rito's concern for her overrides whatever questions he could think of, as he merely hugs his crying Fiancee.

"Just get us out of here... _please_ ," Lala cries out, "Just get me out of here!" Mea nods, and in less than a second, darkness surrounds Nemesis, Lala, and herself, as they pull out of the forced dream. Rito waits for himself to be pulled out, but looks to see himself still surrounded by darkness and Adam.

' _ **Good, now with them out of the way,**_ ' Adam states, ' ** _We can talk without them listening to our every word..._** ' He smiles and turns to Rito. ' _ **I can tell you exactly who it is that hired Azenda to bring Bladix back, I know because I've seen him, even though it is only a sliver of myself, I can see him now,**_ ' Adam states, ' ** _You and I need to become whole, Rito, and to do that I need that piece of myself, you need to make Lala happy, and to do that you need to retrieve Momo safely..._** ' Adam's expression changes to that of worry, and he moves closer to Rito as a result, a curious look on his face. ' ** _Tell me, though, Rito, why do you think Lala knows about Roido, the man you call Chronos; or about Mau, the man we just witnessed die?_** ' he asks, staring deeply into Rito's eyes, ' ** _She's hiding something, Rito Yuuki, and that means she's a danger to me, and to you._** ' Rito backs away from the avatar of the blade, who makes no movement.

"Lala doesn't hide things from me," Rito states in reply, "She may not like you, but considering what she just saw, what she just had to witness, it isn't a surprise she reacted like that." Rito raises up a finger towards Adam. "Why are you so suspicious of her, when you obviously have lied to us more than once, so far," Rito rebukes, "You said you didn't know who hired Azenda, yet you just admitted that you know who it is; why didn't you want to tell me when I was with my friends?"

' **Touche** ** _, you make a valid point,_** ' Adam states, rubbing his chin as he does so, in a very adult like manner, ' _ **You have no reason to trust me, even though I hold your life in my hands, even now as your friends valiantly try to rescue you from my clutches...'**_ Waving a hand, a view of the outside, showing Rito holding onto the Ninth Blade, even after Mea had detached the connections between all their minds. **_'I won't do anything, mind you, I believe you truly want to help me grow, like you want to live,_** ' Adam states, a little bit coldly, before turning to Rito, ' ** _But I am you Rito Yuuki, and I know your thoughts and memories, as much as I know my own; you wonder about her actions, before she ever knew about the decree her father made towards you._** ' He waves his hand, and the events of last month play out again, this time physically in his head.

Rito notices Lala leaning on his bed, back to the drawer in his Cyber Room, on the day he found her sneaking inside what was supposed to be a private room. Given free range of the room, a full and accurate reconstruction by his memory, Rito notices something he had not that day. Lala's hand that is behind her back, is holding onto the knob of his drawer, one he didn't usually employ beyond the occasional letter he kept from his parents. ' ** _It makes one curious, doesn't it?_** ' Adam states, standing next to him, ' ** _What was so important that day, that she made you swear as if she had never been there?_** ' Adam turns to Rito, smiling, before snapping his fingers and disappearing.

 _Real World_

Rito woke to the shaking of Lala, and he felt the sword slide out of his grasp. he looks to see Kuro, his hands in gloves, wrapping the sword tightly and securely. "We don't need this causing anymore problems," he states, "Now, ladies, I don't know about you all, but this former assassin needs his rest, if we're going to go out searching for Momo tomorrow!" Rito notices the time, and sees Lala yawn, along with a couple of others present in the room. Rito smiles, and then makes a decision.

"If anyone needs a bed, you can use mine," he states, and both Nemesis and Mea smile, "I won't be in it, I apologize, but I will be using my Cyber House, I'll use that bed." Mea and Nemesis seem to pout, and Lala smiles in relief, before Rito turns to Yami and Kuro. "I'm sure you can share my bed with Mea and Nemesis, Yami, I'll get out a spare blanket for Kuro to sleep with," Rito starts, "On the couch, of course." Kuro's face falls, but then he recovers with a smile.

"Fine, that's fine, I guess," Kuro states, "Not like I wanted to sleep in a bed anyway, I've been getting too soft anyways..." Rito smiles a bit, before getting up to grab the spare blanket, before heading off to his own Cyber House and cutting it off from the rest of the world.

Walking up the long pathway to his house, he stares over the greenhouse he had ignored for the past month, gladly not overrun thanks to Mikan's efforts. Walking into the house, eh stares at the empty furniture, passing it by as he moves up the stares into the double of his room. He looks over the perfectly immaculate room, a far cry from what it looked like now, but damage was hard to cover up so fast. ' _What is she hiding?_ ' an echo of Adam's conversation rings in his head, ' _What...?_ ' Rito looks towards the drawer in question. Without even a second thought, Rito turns off the light and goes to bed. Answers were meant for the morning, he couldn't worry about it now. No matter how much anxiety gnawed at his stomach.


	25. Interlude: Beginning of the End

**_A/N: Special Author's note at the end of the Chapter!_**

 _Disclaimer: I don't own To Love Ru... *le sigh*_

 _Memorze, Ten Years into Lala's Future_

As Lala awakes with Peke by her side, she was almost surprised to find the robotic girl snoring softly next to her until she remembered where and when she was. Smiling, Lala yawns as she stretches from the bed, as she takes in the sight around her. They had offered her this room, and she quickly found that it contained a variety of styles of clothing. It seemed to all be in her size, which made her wonder whether or not they had all been made by Peke as she slept. Normally she would have just worn Peke, but it appeared the Robotic servant was quite content to keep her human form around others. She had been dead for years, after all, so to see that Peke had grown comfortable in human form, it meant she had grown beyond her original purpose as a companion.

Lala finds that among the various styles of clothing, is her old school clothing. Finding it comfortable and not too unfamiliar without Peke, her Peke, she decides that this would suit her better than the extravagant dress she had been given by Mikan. After getting washed and dressed in the room's accompanying bathroom, Lala finds Peke awake and sitting cross legged on their shared bed. "Lala-sama!" Peke exclaims, happily jumping from the bed and hugging her as she walks toward the bed, "I thought it was all a dream... that I was just dreaming it all..." Lala was slightly shocked at the robot's emotions, or rather the fact she was displaying them. Peke had always seemed so aloof. She had pride that almost bordered reverence in Lala, that much she recognized, and she knew she enjoyed being with Lala; but to see Peke express sadness to this degree, relief at seeing her alive and well, it caused Lala to be surprised at the level of growth Peke had made.

"It's fine Peke, I'm okay," she says, trying to sooth and comfort the crying robot, "It's okay, I won't leave you like that again... I'll make sure this never happens..." She doesn't know if the words are enough, nor how comforting facing how dire the nature of the situation, of her existence in the here and now, is. If she keeps these events from happening, prevents herself from dying, it wouldn't end the heartache here. In time travel there were many theories, many possibilities that each could ring true. She could either prevent whatever tragedy that caused this future to occur, erasing this horrible future, or simply be creating a parallel branch of the timeline, leaving behind this echo of the past as her actions would have no effect on this future. She wipes away the tears that begin forming, knowing that whatever happened she couldn't let Rito, her Rito, become this monster that pretended to be a king. Peke looks up from Lala's shoulder, and then notices the tears at the edges of her eyes.

"I'm sorry Lala, I shouldn't be burdening you like this," Peke states, pushing off and away from her, "I- I know that you have to work on the time machine you have to go back first-" Peke gets up and wipes the tears from her aritficial eyes, before turning to Lala once more. "I know, Lacospo isn't expecting you for another hour," she says beaming, "Let's go exploring; I'm sure you want to know everything!" Lala smiles, and finishes getting ready, as Peke does the same. Peke joins Lala as she ventures out of her room and into the base at large. "I can be your guide to the base, when they don't need me that is," Peke volunteers herself, "A lot of people won't recognize you, Devilukean's beside Nana aren't really trusted because of everything Adam did, even the politicians stuck down here and up above I the main complex."

Lala nods, and Peke leads her through the deceptively large complex, Lala wouldn't be surprised if the whole underground complex dwarfed the prison above. Being a super secret, somewhat terrorist organization came with the necessity of overly large bases to hold needlessly complex or convoluted equipment to wage guerrilla warfare with a tyrannical regime's massive army. The more Lala thought about it, she tried to ignore the fact she was probably just stereotyping the whole rebellion. "And this is the hanger where we equip our star fighters with EMP generators," Peke states, pointing out he large workshop, "Our ships work on a direct plasma flow unlike Devilukean technology, so we use the EMP's to level the numbers playing field, and since a lot of their technology gets scrambled in ground fights, we can work out ways to incapacitate officers, rather than resort to killing them."

Lala then tries not to hyperventilate, realizing that she wasn't stereotyping Eden at all. "Oh, don't worry, that particular room is insulated to keep any accidental activations or faulty EMP's from affecting the majority of our equipment," Peke responds to Layla's worries, "Ryoko told us stories of how the idiots in her old group tried to do something similar, and always ended up setting themselves back...". Not quite reassured, Lala follows Peke into another branching wing of the facility. "This wing is the medical facility, and speaking of our miracle worker!" Peke states, as they enter the medical room to find Ryoko Mikado at a desk and alien-looking computer, "Ryoko-dono, I've decided to show Lala around the base before Lacospo requires her to help build the time machine; how's Nakajima-san?" The elfish alien smiles, happy to see both Peke and Lala in her domain.

"Nakajima's doing fine, but I couldn't spare a regeneration tank for very long, so he's currently left with a limp," Mikado states, "Uwe's with him in his room until we can discharge him to one of the other rooms, Shinzu is currently accommodating the both of them. "Go down three rooms, it's on the left," Mikado states, waving them off, "Sorry I can't talk anymore, I've got three cases of Greebler Hives and two cases of Barronic Gout to solve, on top of everything else..." Waving goodbye to Mikado, Peke leads Lala to the room she had spoken of.

"Uwe!" Lala exclaims, noticing an immediate difference in the younger girls hair, "You're dyed your hair?" The Devilukean hybrid looks over towards Lala with a tired smile. Lala took a spare seat next to her, noticing Nakajima was still asleep.

"More like, I washed out the dye in my hair," she replies, running a hand through her now green hair, while blinking her tired eyes and yawning, "I've always had my Father's hair color naturally, Mama always dyed it pink to keep suspicion away from me, so Adam never questioned my parentage..." Lala now confrims what she had already expected by Uwe's outburst. She thought that from the stories she had heard about Nakajima being Momo's manservant, that Nakajima had been Uwe's father, and this confirmed those beliefs.

"She hid it for good reason," Peke speaks, more than a bit bitter, "He would have killed Momo, or worse just to prove he wasn't tolerant of misbehavior, the very act of fornication under his own nose..." Uwe nods, looking over the sleeping form of her father with the truest smile Lala had ever seen the girl wear on her face.

"I began to suspect near the end, but I think in his own twisted way, he always knew the truth," she states, sitting back in her chair, "He drilled the need to love my Mother into him so much, that he couldn't bear to punish her, if I made her happy, if he made her happy, he would have allowed it in secret I think." Lala merely looks over Nakajima, who had a leg brace over his lower leg and thigh, bruising evident but quickly dissipating thanks to the regeneration tank.

"Where's Yami?" Lala asks her niece, "I need to check and see how she's handling Adam's betrayal, about Kuro's death." Uwe nods in return, thinking.

"I believe she went to speak to Lacospo, she checked in with me not to long ago and apologized for what she did to my Father," Uwe notes, "I think they were meeting in your garage Peke, for the meeting." Peke blinks and looks at the time, crying out as she does so.

"We're late!" Peke says, standing up and grabbing Lala by her wrist, "We're going to be late!" Rushing out of the room and winding through a couple of hallways, Lala is almost dizzy by the speed and force Peke was applying to reach her area. Finally reaching a massive hanger, Lala notices everyone gathered around, familiar faces and some not so much. "I'm sorry we're late, I was giving Lala a tour..." she huffs out, "I'm here now; we're here now!" Ren laughs at that a bit, before being elbowed in the ribs by an older woman with long, black hair.

"I'm glad you could make it, Peke, Lala, my name is Kyouko," the black haired woman announces with a smile, "I'm..." Lala beams as she recognizes the woman, even with the passage of time.

"Magical Kyouko?" Lala states, recognizing her favorite TV superstar, even ten years older, "Aren't you a superhero?" She bounces up and down around the half-flamian girl, before Kyouko merely smiles back nervously and scratches her head.

"Actually I'm Kyouko Kirisaki, I was a superhero on a television show years ago, but after Rito took over, I kinda lost my Idol status, ya see," she states, laughing at Lala's eagerness, "I'm actually half Flamian, so when Rito took over Earth, I got evacuated with Ren and Run, since I'm Run's BFF..." Lala merely squees even louder, with Ren reveling in her discomfort.

"You shouldn't have told her you're Run's friend, she always thought she was," Ren states with a smile, "Poor girl, you've just made her BFF list, and now she'll never leave you alone!" Kyouko looks at Ren oddly, before pulling away from Lala, letting Lacospo take the stage. Lala realizes everyone has gone quiet, and then she realizes that the focus has turned to the toadstool.

"Thank you Lala, for joining us," Lacospo states, turning his head towards her direction, "I've gathered all of you here today, becasue we are going to be building a time machine, with Lala's guidance." Lacospo points to a massive stage, where a long list of parts and items Lala had delivered the night before, sit organized in any boxes. "With this, we can change the fate of our world, prevent all of this from ever happening," Lacospo continues, "And I'm sorry to have to say this, but our time table has moved up to tonight." A rise of shcok and murmur runs through the small crowd. "Yes, yes, I know it will be difficult, but there is a reason why," Lacospo states, and he points upwards, where a hologram suddenly comes to life, showing a massive fleet of Devilukean ships on long range sensor scans, "Somehow Adam has gathered wind of what we have been planning, perhaps because of Yami's presence as one of the Three Facets, or perhaps a mole within our ranks, it matters not... if we don't prepare the time machine, our future will never get the chance to change."

Lacospo goes over to a man holding a covered plate. Removing the cloth, Lacospo reveals what appears to be a gun and a single bullet. "Hades?" Yami states outraged, seeing the weapon that was buried with her dead loved ones having been retrieved from Kuro's casket, "Where did you get that?" Lacospo turns and tries to placate the living weapon with open palms.

"King Gid, upon realizing Rito's corruption into Adam, retrieved the weapon when he laid siege against him on Earth," Lacospo states, "How it came into my hands is a long story, but Zastin, in his dying breaths, ensured me that this was the only weapon in the universe capable of harming Adam as he is now..." Lacospo looks grim, as he turns to the others with the weapon now in his hand, loading the single bullet into the chamber, before clicking it closed. "I had hoped to find a champion valiant, strong enough, to wield this weapon, this symbol of freedom," he continues, "I had hoped to face Adam myself to kill him, if it came down to it, but I lost my sight and fled with this lone weapon into the darkest corners of the universe, until I joined up with Eden." He brings the weapon over to Lala, and places it into her hands. "You must complete the time machine by tonight, and return to the past by any means necessary," he states, a frown on his face, "If Adam, if Rito himself, comes to face us, I beg of you to use this bullet to stop him, Lala."

Lala looks at the weapon, horrified by the weight it seems to have in her hands, the burning stares of the others in the room all turned to her. "I-I can't" she states, dropping the gun back into Lacospo's hands, "I must return home, I agree, but I can make it long before Adam, before Rito, ever gets here..." Lacospo almost goes to say something, but closes his eyes and nods.

"Very well, it is your decision after all," Lacospo states, "I will give this to another, if they accept it." Returning the weapon to the other man, he turns back to the others. "Very well, this may be the final, apocalyptic battle we may face, all Eden has stood for hinges on this very day," Lacospo states, "Whether we win, whether we lose, we will have shown the universe that even god-kings can bleed; we will show that even if we cannot change the future, we will not stop trying to fight to change it now!" With a roar of applause from the others in the room, even Peke, as Lala notices, she can't help but feel a pang of regret building in her stomach.

 _Adam's Flagship_

Among the shadows of the throne room, black armor sat shed and forgotten on the empty floor. In a rare opportunity of freedom Adam, the former Rito Yuuki, stood free of his constricting armor. Normally he would only free himself from the armor in the confines of his room, but the excitement surrounding his current situation warranted a few hours of freedom as he prepared himself. He had put Manami to bed, and had planned to spend time with Run this evening, when one of his technicians approached him with news surrounding the mole he had within the resistance movement. Foregoing any pleasures he could have had, he immediately took his leave to the throne, where he could establish contact with his spy.

He watched the two dimensional hologram of the meeting that had been taking place minutes before, taking in all the familiar faces. He had always known Ren was a traitor, but to know his brother-in-law was actively planning his downfall made his blood boil, after knowing he had left the jerk alive and in control of the sole autonomous solar-monarchy left separate within Deviluke territory. He had even made a deal to keep the peace by shipping off dissidents to the planet, in exchange for constant food and supplies to offset the need of the people of Memorze and the prisoners. He also was happy to see Nana among the faces he recognized, knowing very much he now finally had a reason to execute the bothersome thorn in his side, silencing the treasonous witch who threw his rulership into question. He was less surprised to see Kyouko, or Lacospo there, but upon seeing Yami, he knew that something was very wrong.

His best assassin and living weapon seemed to have retuned to her older style of clothing, no longer wearing her sexy 'Darkness, outfit he had been accustomed to for the past seven years, ever since she joined him. He began to brood realizing that it was more than likely she had turned against him, after all she had done and proven her loyalty to him. Maybe it had to do with the information Momo had stolen and passed off to Mikan, Uwe, and Lala. That could be troublesome, as he realized it was probably information he had believed he had destroyed with Azenda's ship, regarding Kuro's death. That would be the only reason she would have ever turned against him, the shock and betrayal of learning her beloved friends death wasat his own hands, would have done it. Adam feels the air pressure change, watching darkness bubble in a cloud and begin to form around him. He feels smooth skin and the weight of a body wrap around his neck and press against his bare torso, as soft lips caress his neck and shoulder.

"I see you've learned about Yami's betrayal, Adam," she purrs seductively in his ears, "My, my, isn't that shocking?" Brushing off the woman with two or three sizes too large a breasts, he ignores her in favor of examining the live view that has appeared on his screen. Pouting, Nemesis pulls away and returns to her natural form, forming her kimono over her body as she does so. "My, you aren't frisky like normal, I doubt even Mea could bring out your playfulness," she states, slightly whining, "You still have us, and an armada of warships converging on their location; you could go down there yourself and personally take care of those bothersome pests, if you wished it." She tries to go around him, only for Rito's tail to whip around with a slight charge of dark matter focused through it, allowing him to keep the bothersome weapon at bay by keeping the tri-forked tail pressed against her forehead

"I don't need you perverseness, or your company, Nemesis," Adam states, "Go take over Momo, if you want to satisfy your depraved cravings; my mood has been spoiled by knowing Lala stays out of my grasp." The living weapon crosses her arms, before moving slightly away from Adam and towards the door.

"My, aren't you testy ever since your dead bride showed up, you've been letting Yuuki Rito leak out, Adam Heika," Nemesis teases, "You wouldn't want your blushing bride to know just how you subsumed her beloved boy toy..." Adam whirls on Nemesis in a heart beat, and before the live weapon can even blink, Nemesis feels his three pronged tail wrapping around her throat. "H-hit a nerve?" She chokes out, "G-good."

"What do you think you know?" Adam asks, "I've been careful for the past eight years, just slightly influencing Rito here and there, ever since Layla's death...". Adam narrows his eyes, and tightens his grip just slightly on the living weapon's neck. "How. Did. You. Know?" He asks, his voice lowering just a bit, "I made this universe a paradise with my actions, your actions, I won your loyalty years ago, why come out now?" Nemesis smiles a deranged smile, before Adam lessens the pressure on her throat, just enough that she could speak.

"How about that night I seduced you, dressed as Momo, the night she was with Nakajima," Nemesis states, "At first I thought it was because you just didn't care, but when you couldn't even tell with your face in my..." She groans, as Adam tightens his grip around her more, before releasing. "Damn, don't blame me you d-don't have R-Rito's talent," she states, grimacing before returning to her crazed smile, "I w-wanted to see just what you were planning on doing, and I've been the one keeping Mea and Yami in the dark, all this time..." She feels a slight shock as Adam begins to drain her of her dark matter, and grimaces when he then lets her fall to the floor after he was finished.

" _Hmmm_ , I guess as a Living Weapon that revels in chaos, it isn't hard to believe you'd still side with me, even if I'm not your precious Rito," Adam replies, going to retrieve his armor, "The question is, what are you planning on doing with this information?" Nemesis smiles as she picks herself up from the floor, massaging her neck from the attack.

"I still plan to serve you, as does Mea and the others," Nemesis states, "You're so deliciously chaotic after all, just being in your presence makes me so... hot." She smiles seductively and sways her hips as she moves for the door. "As long as you promise to let me share your bed, Harem King, you'll have my loyalty," she states looking back from the door, "After all, you may not be Rito, but you sure are a 'Beast' in bed..." Adam merely watches as she leaves, frowning as he realizes he has one more wild card to worry about.

Nemesis walks down the halls, until she reaches the elevator. Going down a few decks, she reaches the floor she was desiring and walks through the row of guards. The don't even bat an eye at her appearance, then again she was currently taking the appearance of Adam that she managed to copy upon pressing her body against his. Walking to the sole isolation cell on the prisoners block, she dismisses the guard to speak with the prisoner alone. Walking in, she closes the door to the white cell behind her.

"You were right to be worried," she states to the shackled Momo, "Whoever it is that is inhabiting Rito's body, whether it be some twisted phantom of 'Adam' or some mockery of Rito, he's become obsessed with Lala." Momo looks up from her shackles with a sad smile. "That means whoever he is, whatever he is, Rito Yuuki is still alive deep down inside him," Nemesis states, "He is making his move tonight, attacking Eden and Lala in the process; if we can appeal to him before Lala disappears back to her time period, we could get our Rito Yuuki back, even if she doesn't change the future..."

 _Uwe's Room_

"He's coming, you know," Uwe states out loud, lying back on the bed that had been provided for her, "They say he'll be here by tonight, and I know that means he'll be here personally, to drag us back into his gilded cage." She looks to the wall, where her shadow is being cast, larger than her own body. "He'll find out, you know he will, once he tries to turn us back into his happy little puppet," she states sadly, trying to choke back tears, "You've always been there for me, always, even when he tried to rip my memories apart and leave me his perfect little doll, you were always there to remind me of who I really was." She grasps at her chest and the pedant she bore underneath her clothes.

Six years ago when her adoptive father still used the Ninth Blade, the day Rito challenged his father-in-law in a duel to the death was the day he last wielded that weapon. The shattered hilt and broken blade, were all that remained from Gid's last attack on Rito. The day she found the broken hilt hidden among her father's armory, she had kept it on a chain after requesting one from her mother, a reminder of the family she had never grown to know. That was when the whispers started, and the horrible truths that were long hidden by her adoptive father, were revealed to her. He told her how he had been cast out, how even he had been manipulated by the Ninth Blade, before he was subsumed by something evil, something ancient. _**'It's all coming together now, Uwe, little sister,'**_ he states to her from her shadow, **_'The truth will be revealed, and everything will change going forward.'_** Her shadow begins to stretch and morph, until it seems to pull away from the wall and take on a life of its own.

Golden red eyes blink back at her, like they did in her dreams, and he stands two heads taller than the little girl, who he had watched over, grow up too fast. He smiles as she stares back at him in shock, he kneels down and pats her on the head. "It's alright now Uwe, I've come to set matters straight after all these years," the blonde, spiky haired teen states, "After all, He took over my uncle's life, he ruined your future, and sullied my name." Adam stood up, and cracked his knuckles and prepares himself for the fight ahead. "I've been itching for this fight for years, honestly," Adam states to the little girl, looking down at her with a smile, "Ever since that man had the gall to manipulate me into harming Rito and his friends, he'll deserve what's coming to him; tonight's the night it all goes down..."

 **To Be Concluded?**

 _ **A/N:**_ **25 Chapters? 100,000+ words? I didn't think I could ever write a story going on this long! Thank you everyone for your critique and feedback, I love to hear what people think, for sure!**

 **I know my story is a bit odd, I ship NakajimaxMomo for instance, but really that was my goal when starting this story. I like to think this story is a Harem Deconstruction, because we all know that no one gets the girl/guy they want at the end, which honestly should be a Trope of its own. #NobodyWins**

 **Thanks to those who've stuck with me, and I hope you stay with me through to the end... However many chapters that is!**

 **Now though, I believe it's time to start to draw close to this Side Story, and begin to focus on the main stories ending. I'd like to see you guys/gals guessing just how/who/why/when/what in the reviews! It's going to be fun, at least that's my belief, so let's see it through to the end!**


	26. Ransom Demands

_Disclaimer: I do Not Own To Love Ru._

* * *

Waking up to the sound of alarm bells, Rito opens his eyes and smacks the clock on his dresser drawer. Groaning as he wakes up, he realizes that the bedroom he is in reflects his old room. He then remembers the craziness of last night, and that he had offered up his physical room in lieu of using this one. He looked at the desk, and fought the urge to tear open the desk and find the mysterious letter Lala had inserted into it. She had meant for him to find it, right? After all, she wouldn't have bothered breaking into his Cyber House using the backdoor she had left inside it, and not expect him to open it...

He shook his head, knowing that these were all thoughts Adam wanted him to think. Bladix had told him that he couldn't harm Rito because he had burned away any means of control by expunging the nanites that had been trying to revive Bladix within his blade. Rito wasn't sure if the same applied to Adam, as Bladix had also told him that 'something new' would be replacing him, and that something had been revealed to be Adam. The child like avatar of the Ninth Blade, a consciousness, a soul, made from pieces of himself that had been changed by Nemesis' TransGenes, and the remaining bits of Bladix that still clung within Rito and the blade. The composite entity wasn't exactly malicious seeming to Rito, rather he seemed to have a bit of a untrusting, if aloof attitude towards Rito himself, probably due to Bladix's memories of not being able to control him. Perhaps he was also influenced by Nemesis' memories if they were passed on genetically, since it seemed while Adam seemed distant he was worried about Rito abandoning, or rather outright destroying him, an attitude Rito could very well compare to Nemesis when they first met.

Realizing he didn't bring a spare change of clothes in with him last night, he silently cursed his inability to move some spare clothing over into the duplicate room. He really hoped the girls had all gone down for breakfast, so he could at least grab his clothes and hurriedly get ready to eat. Walking down to the exit portal, he quickly activated it and walked through into his physical room. He catches a glimpse of something, but nothing definite, and quickly finds a pair of golden strands holding a pillow smashing into his face and into the floor. He struggles under the increasing force, struggling to take a breath in, as he claws at the offending object to clear his airway. "Yuuki Rito, you saw, didn't you?" Yami states from somewhere above him, though he has no clue as to what she is referring, "I assured myself you would have more tact offering your room to three women, but I find your old habits are still as perverse as ever, Rito Yuuki." Suddenly Rito feels a very heavy weight on his stomach, as the force of the pillow lessens yet remains on his face.

Rito realizes he must have walked in on Mea and Yami changing, though he found that improbable, as both girls literally wore the same outfit, just using their nanites to shift it into a new form and presumably clean it at the same time. Finally the pillow is lifted off his head by a smiling Nemesis, who was also sitting on Rito's stomach and chest. "You just have the worst timing, Rito," she grins, "Yami was just transforming from a particularly skimpy nightgown-" Suddenly Nemesis disappears in a flash, as a wicked looking blade lashes out and lodges itself just next to Rito's left ear. Gulping, he notices Yami's neutral expression, and hopes she had been aiming for Nemesis. He hoped.

"I-I'm s-sorry Yami," Rito states, "I was hoping you had already gone down to help with breakfast-" Yami sighs, closing her eyes as she does so.

"No apology is necessary, just hope Kuro doesn't hear about this," she states in return, "Ever since he's regressed in age, his emotional control has gone down to match, he's becoming highly irrational regarding anything to do with me..." Rito gulps, and gets up from the floor. Brushing himself off, he is surprised to find Mea handing him a stack of folded clothes.

"For you, Rito Senpai, because I figured from Yami's tardiness in changing this would be a possibility," Mea states, "Your lucky perversions happily quantify in a situation where three beautiful women are sleeping near you, and we happened to 'fit the bill'." Rito doesn't know whether to be thankful or offended that his accidents were expected, but then again knowing he was going in blind, his chances of indecent exposure had been highly likely... He sweat drops at that, laughing it off slightly before leaving his room to get ready to have breakfast with everyone.

Upon reaching the kitchen with everyone already at the table and eating, he happily sees Nakajima up and about with everyone. "Rito!" he states, and everyone turns to see Rito and the others enter into the room, "Get some food in you, we'll need the energy for what we have ahead of us!" Rito agrees, moving for the delicious breakfast on the table. After consuming most of his breakfast, he takes in everybody around him. Lala, Nana, Mikan, Mea, Nemesis, Yami, Kuro, Nakajima,and Celine. The only one missing was Momo, and a sad pallor hung over the table as everyone ate in contemplative silence.

"Mau?" Celine states, her cheerful obliviousness to the situation leaves her the only one with a smile on her face as she eats, "M-au?" She looks around fussing as Mikan goes to figure out why Celine is starting to become upset. "M-a-u-m," she says more forcefully, "Mau-mo?" Mikan drops a rag she is using to wipe up the food Celine has spilled, and looks the plant child in the eyes, full of curiosity and wonder. "Momo?" Celine asks Mikan, cocking her head with a worried expression towards her, "Mau?" Surprisingly it was Nana who begins crying, rushing out of the room and up the stairs to her own bedroom. Celine doesn't understand what it was she said, but she begins to understand that the reason everyone is upset, is because of Momo. And the last time everyone was sad it had to do with Rito. "Pa-pa?" Celine states, her eyes beginning to well up with tears as she looks straight at Rito, "Momo g-one?"

Rito smiles sadly at Celine, and before she could start crying he gets up and grabs her, holding her tight. "She's okay Celine, no need for tears," he says trying to sooth the whimpering child, "She'll be back soon, I promise, she's just away right now..." He hugs her close and tight, and tries not to cry and choke out his words. "We said some mean things to each other, but Momo's super strong, you know that!" he states, giving her to Mikan as he pulls away to go to Lala, "We'll get her back, don't you worry, just wait and see!" He hugs Lala from the back, grabbing her hands in his as he puts his head in the crook of her neck. "Don't you worry, we'll get her back, you and me," he states, not knowing who he was trying to convince now, "I promise you, we'll find her." Lala looks up at Rito, and gently wipes away a stray tear, putting a smile on her face.

"You're right," she says smiling, "We're going to get her back Rito, Celine, everybody!" She looks out towards the surrounding friends and family. "Azenda better watch out, because once we find her, she's going to wish she never crossed us!" Lala states, "Besides, knowing Momo, she's already beginning to regret it!"

* * *

 _Dark Side of the Moon_

' _Two days_ ,' she thinks to herself, ' _Zastin will be back from Deviluke, in two days._ ' She is currently in a locked room, barely any resemblance to a prison cell, but a prison cell it is. She had her heart broken, she was beaten, and kidnapped all in one day, and now she was a prisoner of one of her sister's power crazy stalkers. Not to mention a former assassin Queen, who was quite a 'Witch with a capital B', who would have more than likely killed her if she wasn't going along with the former psycho's plan. No doubt they would try and approach Lala with ransom demands, because they knew their window of opportunity was closing. More than likely, they assumed Rito would have had enough time with his sword to become a brainwashed slave, that they believed they could just walk up to him and he would hand Lala over to them. ' _More like he would hand their ass to them on a plate,_ ' she thinks with a smile, ' _Rito's a dummy, but he had the upper hand with his basic sword skills alone, and when combined with his natural gift not even Azenda would be able to hold her own against him._ '

She knew that was a fact just from experience, when Rito had managed to not only embarrass her, but actually overtake her without Azenda putting up a fight because she believed he was inconsequential. No doubt they would both take Rito slightly seriously now, after their underestimating him before, but they hadn't seen the effort she had seen Rito put in to try and better himself. He had done his best to try and stop getting into messy situations he couldn't easily explain away, even if he failed sometimes just because the universe or some higher power thought it was funny. She had also been told by Zastin just how serious he was about learning swordplay, a skill that took effort and concentration beyond just swinging a blade at your enemy. And she had been the one to push him to do these things, she realized it now.

It was funny what a sleepless night of contemplation could get an adrenaline fueled mind to think about, to come to conclusions she had long ignored. ' _He was always trying to be kind to me, trying to tell me he wasn't interested,_ ' she muses to herself, _'But like my mother says, I'm too much like her._ ' She thinks back to her time visiting Deviluke, when her mother had approached her with knowledge about her Harem Plan.

" _When I was young... I used every means, fair or foul, to make Gid look my way,_ " she had said to her, when they met in secret, " _Back then, it was really vexing me... the one man whose sense of self was so strong, he wouldn't yield to my 'charm'._ " She had looked away, lost in the memories of her youth as she told Momo of how she met her Father. " _Because I thought he was destined for me... 'There's no one but him',_ " she says, smiling dreamily, " _I kept pressing on him and making myself appeal to him... because I didn't want to give him to anyone._ " She then stared her directly in the face for the next part, which had hit Momo hard at the time, while she was still lost in her indecision. " _Momo... Out of all you three sisters, you resemble me the most,_ " she had said, " _It's fine to be considerate of the people around you... but don't take it too far._ "

Thinking back to Rito this past year, how he had gone from happy to sad with the loss of Haruna, then pick himself up when he was told to make a choice. But she had seen it with her own eyes, when she watched Lala and Rito in his room, as Lala tried to break through the wall of isolation he had put up. She had tried to ignore the feeling of jealousy, justifying that he only tried to break up with her out of his own selfish desire to keep his family, to keep the Earth safe from her father. But in his room, when he asked to be alone with her, when he tried to tell her in the kindest manner, before she blew up on him and then Haruna, the girl who hadn't even tried to talk to him showed up... Momo realized that Lala had been right, Rito had changed after interacting with Bladix. He had been so indecisive, so damn annoying not knowing who he wanted, and yet he had chosen Lala, she could see it in his eyes when he spoke to her that day. She had always wondered why her mother had thought she was being considerate to others, to Lala. Now she wondered if she had really understood what her mother had been getting at.

Flashes of green hair and blood, sent shivers down her back, as she thought back to Nakajima's attempt to save her. She hoped that he was safe, getting patched up in some hospital after someone managed to stumble upon him. He may have been creepy as hell, a slight stalker from time to time, but when she thought back to all the things he had done for her, she knew he had her interests at heart, even if it got in her way. He seemed to be the unanimous leader of the Venus Momo Fanclub, which had been great at first having boys of all kinds fawning over her every whim, but had grown to be a bother when they took it too far and didn't let anyone near her. More than once she had sworn he had it out for Rito, believing him to be some kind of 'super-pervert', no doubt because of the fact Yui Kokegawa, the school's head of the moral comity, had put him up with the principal in terms of perversion. Looking back, she could laugh at the time a whole group of them, including Nakajima, had brought in illegal air pistols, just so they could threaten Rito with them.

She was laughing, even when the door opened and the slime ball and her toadstool walked in. Lacospo probably wouldn't take kindly to her calling him Azenda's lackey, but Momo could tell Azenda was the one who truly believed she was running things. She also knew she could use that against Lacospo, to cause him greater annoyance still. She was quite surprised to see what appeared to be a small dome in Lacospo's hands, with a shard of something metal suspended within it. It piqued her curiosity to be shown something knew, unless he planned to torture her with it, than she began to wonder just where he planned to hurt her with the small, ineffective sliver.

"Ah, I see you become curious about what this is?" Lacospo asks, setting the container for the piece of metal, down on the desk in her cell, "It's something I find is worth just as much as you are, Hime-sama, if not worthwhile to get your hands on." He puts his hands behind his back, as he stares Momo down with a delightfully, evil smirk. "It seems you were right, since A.D.A.M. has not contacted us yet, I must assume you were telling us the truth, and that Rito has compromised Bladix," he states, looking to Azenda, and nodding slightly, "You see, we can be civil about this, no need to go to such violent extremes, dear." His words drip thick like sweet honey towards Azenda, but Momo knows that an angry bee still buzzes in the Tyrant's head, because she is a killer. "Since that is the case, I've decided to let you know that we've come to the conclusion that ransoming you off, is in fact our best interests," Lacospo states to Momo, "In fact, we'll even be offering this shiny sliver of metal to Rito in addition, for meeting our demand." Momo merely raises a brow in confusion at this.

"Ah, I see you're still confused, that's okay, I know how hard this must be to catch up with, but I have big plans, and ransoming you off is just the first step," the toady continues, smacking his purple lips, "Rito will not only be giving up his right as a marriage candidate to Lala, but Lala will willingly chose to come with me and become a part of my own harem, if it means saving her sister..." Momo smiles in return, knowing that Lala would be stubborn, and refuse to jut up and waltz into the lion's den. "Oh, do you doubt me princess, well, I think you'll find that this little shard of metal is more crucial than you realize," Lacospo states with a knowing smile, "Did you know, when I had Azenda fix Bladix, I kept the smallest sliver I could get my hands on, just enough to compromise the blade's integrity?" Momo blinks in confusion, as Lacospo starts talking. "Oh, yes, did I mention that I expect Lala and Rito won't give up without a fight, without Rito coming to me and trying to win the fair maiden's heart back, one last time?" he states, "Oh, he'll walk right into my trap, after he valiantly tries to save Lala, and I will manage to strike him down with something not even Rito could expect?"

Azenda moves, and pulls out a silver box from seemingly nowhere. She opens it up, and realizes that inside it is another sword. This cutlass has a single ruby encrusted into its hilt, along with a wicked and deadly looking curved blade to accompany it. Momo looks up at Lacospo, as Azenda closes the case and returns the sword to outside her cell. "Why are you telling me all of this?" Momo asks, "How do you expect me not to tell them about your plans?" Lacospo gets a wicked grin, and he turns to Azenda with a smile.

"Shall we tell her now, dear, or wait until we contact Rito and Lala?" he asks, before turning back to the container holding the metal shard, "Well,let's just say I won't be telling them that this shard of metal is going with you as part of the deal... in fact, I think they'll be quite too preoccupied dealing with something far more important..." He snaps his fingers, and Azenda brings out a gag and some hand cuffs. "Please make this easy on yourself Momo," he states, looking back at her, "We wouldn't want you getting hurt too badly, before we even get Lala to surrender herself, now would we?" By the time Lacospo leaves the room, he can barely hear the Devilukean girls muffled screams.

* * *

 _The Lunatique_

Rito joins Lala in front of the console screen, along with Yami and Nana. When Lala had gotten the call from Momo's phone, she hadn't quite expected it to be Lacospo, nor did she expect him to admit to kidnapping Momo. He had told them he would make contact with the Lunatique, providing Yami promised not to interfere, lest something horrible befall Momo in the time it took them to even be able to do anything. Now Rito stood gripping Lala's hand, as they waited for Lacospo's call.

When the ship's visuals lit up with a view of Lacospo's ship, Lala, Nana, Rito, and Yami were all shocked to see not only was Momo tied up and gagged, but that she was beaten and bruised as well. "Well, Lala Hime, I'm surprised to see you didn't let your dog sniff around," Lacospo states tauntingly, "Azenda, my darling wife, was so looking forward to doing bodily harm to Momo, so much so in fact..." Everyone stared in shock as Azenda retrieved a small piece of shrapnel, no bigger than a toothpick, and shoved it into Momo's upper arm.

"Lacospo, that was uncalled for!" Lala cries out, as she hears her sister's muffled cries over the communications, "If you threaten her with more bodily harm, if she dies before you return her to us, I swear you will receive the death penalty with no trial... by my own hands, if necessary!" Lacospo merely sneers at the princess, knowing she couldn't do anything without knowing where Momo, or his ship, was.

"I just wanted to assure you that we were serious about the ransom demands we are about to make, and Azenda thought it would be better to show you just how serious we are," he responds, "Don't worry, Azenda knows her craft, where she hit Momo will merely go unconscious if not treated within the hour, she won't have lost enough blood to be critically endangered for another fifteen minutes after that..." Rito bites his tongue in anger at the toadstool, who he knew was just playing games with all of them, trying to get them riled up and unable to think clearly. "Now, as for out demands..." Lacospo states, "In return for Princess Momo, we'll expect that you, Princess Lala, will willingly accompany us to Deviluke, after preparations are made..." He smiles, and turns his attention to Rito. "You, Rito Yuuki, must give up your mantle as Heir to the King of Deviluke, and remove yourself as a marriage candidate to Lala Hime," Lacospo states, "Do this, and with Lala's full compliance, you will be able to save Momo's life in time, and I will become the next King of Deviluke, after Lala Hime is married off to me in four days time."

Rito is about to fire back an angry retort to his ridiculous demands, before Lala speaks up in return. "Very well, though I cannot ask Rito to withdraw his candidacy as a potential marriage candidate, I will comply with making you my husband of choice; if it means you return Momo to Rito exactly after I step foot on you ship," Lala states boldly, "As he has been chosen by King Gid of Deviluke himself as Heir Apparent, as ancient law states, if Rito is able to come to Deviluke within two weeks time, he will be able to contest our marriage and duel you for your position, your title, and all your possessions, with exile or death as victor's choice." Rito is abut to object, but he feels Nana press onto his shoulders before he can. "Do these terms sound agreeable?" Lala asks, "If so, I will be prepared in fifteen minutes to go with you from the location of Sainan High, so that Momo can get proper medical treatment as fast as possible."

Lacospo, Azenda, and Momo all looked shocked as can be at the princesses willing sacrifice. "Very well, this is... agreeable," Lacospo says hesitantly, rubbing his chin, "I will allow you time to say your goodbyes and have Azenda meet you on the roof of the Sainan High School, with Momo in tow." He leans into the camera and waggles one of his webbed fingers. "But no tricks, just you and Rito, no one else," Lacospo warns, "Or else Momo may not make it in time to be saved!" Lala nods, and the connection is cut. Rito turns to Lala to berate her, before Nana moves in and begins to hug the now crying girl.

"It'll be okay Lala, Momo will be fine when we get her to Mikado Sensei, that was smart of you to do..." Nana states, then looks back at Rito, "Rito, I know what you want to say, but let me tell you that Lala was very tricky right then, she just lied to Lacospo's face." Rito looks shocked at that, wondering just what she meant by that. "There is no ancient law giving you time to prepare, she just lied to Lacospo to get his guard down," she states, "Since Father is not expecting Lala to have made her choice for three more weeks, Lala has just bought you time to not only save Momo, but to confront our Father about Lacospo's intentions, and to set a trap for him." Rito nods, understanding now, and he goes to comfort his crying Fiancee. He would do everything in his power, whatever it took, to get her home safe after this. He would make sure everyone was safe.


	27. Not in Sainan

_Disclaimer: I do not own To Love Ru._

* * *

 _Sainan High School Rooftop_

Rito stared at the sky with Lala, as they both waited for any sign that Lacospo or Azenda were coming to deliver Momo, and to take Lala away. "It'll be okay," Rito says, hugging Lala as the wind blows over the rooftop, ruffling his hair and whipping Lala's pink locks around, "We'll get her fixed up as soon as she gets here, Mikado sensei is waiting just beyond that door." He looks back at the entrance to the rooftop staircase, knowing not only was the good Doctor there, but so was Yami, Mea, and Nana, should anything go horribly wrong. Nemesis was currently watching over Mikan and Celine on Rito's behalf, in case Azenda tried anything sneaky or underhanded. Against everyone's wishes Rito himself had the Ninth Blade, Adam, strapped to his back just in case. "We're going to get Zastin, and back up, and then we'll be coming for you," Rito says shifting his sword and pulling Lala so that she was face to face with him, where she could see his sincerity, "You won't be marrying that toadstool, not once I get my hands on his slimy skin!"

Lala smiles, and then tries to hold her hair down, as blasts of air suddenly come from the skies above. Rito looks up to see the massive form of Lacospo's ship, at least twice as big as his original one from two years ago, breaking through the clouds and blasting the air around them as it pulls to a stop. "Rito," Lala states, looking up at the massive ship, "I need you to promise me something..." Rito looks out of the corner of his eyes toward Lala, but turns his attention to the ship as a single beam of light starts to shine, as the center of the ship opens like an iris. A platform begins to descend, and Rito sees both Azenda and a bound and gagged Momo on it. Rito was glad to see the blood flowing down her arm wasn't heavy, but he could still see she was not having a pleasant experience with Azenda's rough handling, her giant hands grasping her shoulder tightly to keep her from jumping off.

"Tell her to step into the light, no tricks," Azenda states, "Lala Hime will be brought to us, and I will hand off Momo then, are we clear?" Lala nods and walks to the edge of the rooftop, turning around as she does so. She smiles, stepping back and off of the roof as she does so. Rito's heart leaps into his chest, but then he watches her slowly rise from somewhere below the roof towards the suspended platform holding Azenda and Momo.

"Rito, I need you to promise me!" she calls out, as she ascends, "Look to yourself for guidance, Rito, you don't have to keep being burdened by my demands anymore." She smiles, and Rito catches his breath as she reaches the platform, to be roughly grabbed by Azenda and pulled back.

"Our deal is complete, Azenda, now send Momo out!" Rito yells out to the blonde Tyrant, "You promised, and Lala won't like it if Lacospo doesn't keep his word..." Azenda merely sneers at Rito in response, cutting Momo's hands free and taking off her gag.

"You're quite right, Rito Yuuki, Lacospo always keeps his promises," Azenda states, "I can't go against my husband's wishes, so I will send Momo down to you..." With a deft shove, Momo loses her balance and falls backwards off the platform. Lala reacts almost instantly, trying to reach out to save her sister, only to have Azenda roughly yank her back by her hair, causing her to cry out in pain and be unable to stop Momo from falling. Momo's eyes are open, and Rito sees her shock and fear as their eyes meet, as she plunges headfirst towards the roof. It appeared like gravity was going to win, as the tractor beams effects were negated below the platform, as Lala cries out during their ascension into Lacospo's ship.

In seconds, Rito's heart races, and he feels the blade strapped to his back begin to warm in response. The wrappings seem to burst in a pyre of dark flame, as they burn away and reveal the dark and red blade free from its restrictive bindings. Rito's eyes flash purple, as he rests his hand on his hilt. 'Use your power,' Adam whispers in his head, 'You can save her, Now!' In seconds Rito has moved from his spot, jumped up and off the Roof's lip, and with both arms outstretched he manages to position himself under the falling princess. In seconds he gets into a defensive position, putting himself between Momo and the roof, to cushion Momo's fall from the platform and onto the rooftop. In the three seconds of free fall, he finds himself wondering just how he did this, before his back met the rooftop and the air left his lungs hard.

" _*Cough*_... _*Cough*_... _*Cough*_..." Rito tries to catch his breath, and he looks down to Momo, "...Are you a-alright?" Momo's eyes are closed, and Rito hopes it was from fainting from the shock of falling, and not blood loss. Quickly pulling her and himself up form the rooftop, he drags her to the rooftop entrance and into Mikado sensei's waiting care.

"I have her Rito, I saw what happened, just get you breath," Mikado states, grabbing Momo and putting her onto a collapsible gurney, and turning to Shizu, "Let's go!" Trailing down the stairs, Rito is left in the darkened staircase. He turns to the wall, leaning against it with both his fists gripped tightly. He growls in anger and punches with his free hand, the wall. He realizes the bricks have scrapped his knuckles, and he turns his back to his wall. Falling to his knees, he takes deep breathes to calm himself. He brings up his left hand, and opens it to see the inside of his hand cut and bleeding. The tiny shrapnel of metal in his hand, somehow being dislodged from Momo as she fell, was currently in his hands, and he felt something nagging at the back of his mind.

He hits the back of his head against the wall, and then feels a sharp, hot pain coming from his lower back. Looking down, he notices the sword is glowing at it's hilt, the twin jewels shifting from blood red to purple and back. Finally he watches as the color changing stops, but then he watches both jewels dull to black, and crack. "What the?" Rito states, pulling his sword free from behind him, "Why did you...?" He nearly screams, as he watches darkness bubble and stretch out from the jewels and up his hand. He tries to let go, banging the sword against the steps, but it's stuck tight too him. Suddenly the darkness lashes out towards his free hand, snaring it and the piece of metal inside his closed fist. He feels the gelatinous, warm wrongness squeeze between his knuckles, and pry his hand open as it forces itself into the closed fist.

He lets go of the piece of metal, but the goop is stuck fast to both his hand and the piece of metal. In less time than he could realize, he feels the darkness dragging his hand towards the sword and the broken gems on his hilt. 'Fight it Rito,' Adams yells in his ears, 'Fight it!' He struggles to break free, but he can't fight the pull of the sword. Suddenly misplacing his foot, Rito feels gravity take over, as he tumbles backwards down the staircase. In less time than he could blink, he feels his body stop rolling, he feels the pain take over his senses, and he feels the shadows enveloping his body in prickling numbness, and the darkness overtake his sight.

* * *

 _Rito's Room_

When Rito wakes to find himself back home and in his bed, he almost sighs in realization that it was all a dream. It wasn't like his sword could just come to life like that, it couldn't just break free and... leak out darkness. Adam had even sounded afraid of the unnatural darkness, encouraging him to fight it. It was like Adam wasn't in control of the sword, when it tried to drag the shrapnel into itself. He wondered why it had wanted the piece of metal anyway. Then again it was probably better for Rito to ignore as the dream it was, it hadn't really happened after all, he had gotten Momo into Mikado Sensei's care, and followed them down into the nurse's office.

Smiling Rito finds his sword resting against the dresser, once again wrapped to silence it. As Rito reached for the sword, the door to his room opened, and Rito turned to see Momo walking into his room. "Rito!" she cries out happily, "You're up earlier than we expected!" She rushes over, stepping in between the Ninth Blade and the bed. "Mikan was worried about how you collapsed in the nurse's office, after you saved me, she'll be glad to hear you're up and about!" Momo states, grabbing him by the elbow and dragging him out of his room, "Don't worry about the Ninth Blade, right now let's go see how Mikan, Nana, and Celine are doing!" Rito glances back at his room, before closing the door and the sword behind him.

Following Momo down the stairs, he finds everyone gathered around the couch, including Zastin, who looks happy once he sees Rito. "Zastin sama?" Rito questions, walking down from the stairs, watching Momo hug the elder Devilukean, "I thought you weren't expected for another day, or two, since you were coming back from Deviluke?" Zastin smiles, and clasps Rito on the back, laughing as he does so.

"You've been asleep Rito, I've been here for a couple of hours," Zastin states, "You, on the other hand, have been out for a day my friend." Rito doesn't know what to say, but he feels Zastin pull him into the living room, before putting him onto the couch, in between Nana and Mikan. "Thankfully Nana and Momo have informed me of who we are dealing with, and I managed to track down Lacospo's ship on the dark side of your Earth's moon," he states, opening a device that shows a holographic simulation of the moon and the aforementioned ship, "Thankfully I restocked the ships weaponry while we were at port, so we managed to disable his hyperactive hyper-drive with little effort." The real time image shows a hole in the ships armor, blackened scorch marks surrounding it. "Give it a few minutes, and Lala will be safely procured and delivered safely to us!" he says, clapping his hands together, "And both Lacospo and Azenda will be apprehended and turned over to Galactic Police for immediate processing, unless Gid-sama decides to press charges and demand their lives for attacking two of the crown princess' of Deviluke."

Rito is quite relived, and he can see that reflected in everyone else's expressions. "I'm glad you were able to get here in time, Zastin sama," Rito states gratefully, "I'm just happy Momo recovered well..." He looks to Momo's injured arm, and notices nothing but smooth skin on her arm. It was as if she hadn't been cut there, at all. Momo realized he was staring, and she grabs his arm and brings his attention upwards.

"It's okay Rito, Azenda didn't harm me too badly, Mikado sensei was even able to keep it from scarring," Momo states, laughing his confusion away, "It helped that it was smaller than a pinprick, so if there even was a scar, it would be less than that!" She smiles and puts her neck against Rito's shoulder, smiling up at him, and Rito begins to feel a bit awkward. Looking around, he finds no trace of Nakajima, who he had assumed would have still been somewhere in the house.

"Where's Nakajima?" Rito asks, looking to the others, Mikan and Nana, "Wasn't he still staying with us until Mikado sensei was able to get to him?" Suddenly a crash was heard from the kitchen, and swearing matching Nakajima's voice is heard from the kitchen.

"I'm okay everyone," he calls out from the kitchen, "The food I tried to reheat in the microwave was too hot, so I ended up dropping the plate and burning my fingers in the process..." Walking through the doorway, he looks to Rito and sheepishly smiles. "Rito, can you tell me where you keep your dustpan and broom, I don't want anyone to get cut in here," he states, as Rito just stares at his face, "Uhh... Rito?" Not a bruise was on Nakajima's face, not even a hint of one, and Rito found it hard to believe that Nakajima would be standing with broken ribs.

"The back closet, behind the staircase, next to the bleach," Rito replies hesitantly to the fully healed Nakajima, who smiled in return.

"Thanks Rito!" He calls out, "You're a real lifesaver man!" Rito found that odd, since normally Nakajima would have been concerned with Momo being so close with Rito. Perhaps something had happened while Rito was unconscious, after all. Moving up and away from the couch, he pulls away from Momo and walks towards the stairs.

"Thanks everyone, for... letting me know what's going on," he states, giving curious looks to everyone, who merely stare back with happy, smiling faces in return, "I'll... be going up to my room to check on Adam..." Suddenly Rito feels an arm grip his shirt tightly, as he goes up the stairs. He turns back to find Zastin staring him down, with a tight smile on his face.

"There's no need Rito dono,"Zastin replies, "In fact, why don't I get the Ninth Blade, Momo, Nana, and Lala had been telling me you've been having... some trouble with it." He looks at Rito, and Rito merely stares him back down. "After all, such a dangerous weapon shouldn't be in the hands of a mere child, I can send it back to Deviluke, so King Gid may keep it safe," Zastin continues, "Don't worry about it Rito, let me take this burden from you..." Rito merely rips his shirt from Zastin's grasp, and rushes up the stairs in return, before the larger man can follow him up.

Closing the door behind him as he reaches his room, he locks it tightly, before turning his attention on the blade sitting against his drawer. Walking up to grab it at its hilt, he swings it up and feels the familiar weight in his hands. Taking care to start unwrapping it, he loosens the bindings and takes it off in one fell swoop. Rito stares at the blade in his hand, and notices immediately that something is wrong. Black, spidery veins of darkness run up and down the blade itself, not yet reaching the hilt, but the alien look to the sword was frightening. He doesn't even hear Adam inside it, the sword either dormant, or unable to respond because of whatever has infected it.

"You shouldn't have done that Rito," a sweet voice sings in his ears, "Now you'll have to forget..." Rito turns around, to find Lala staring at him form in front of his closed and locked bedroom door, though something is off about her. That's when he notices her usually aquamarine eyes, are a shivering and disturbing shade of violet. "Oh dear, it seems you've noticed," she states, blinking with a cold smile on her face, which sends shivers down Rito's spine, "Let's take care of that nasty, little blade..." Reaching out to grab it from Rito's hands, he steps back instead, taking care to not get close to her.

"Lala, I don't know what's wrong, but I swear I'll fix this," he states to her, and she smiles wickedly in return, "I don't know what's gotten into you, into Zastin, into Momo and Nakajima, but I'll stop it!" She lunges towards him, and he sidesteps it, running towards his entrance to his Cyber House. He quickly steps through the mirror, which bends at his touch, and he finds himself falling quickly into the Cyber space.

Blinking his eyes, Rito gasps in shock at the frightful scene before him. His once beautiful and vibrant walkway up to his house, was now broken and disjointed as stones haphazardly stuck up due to roots poking through the ground, as brambles, thorns, and other weens choke out the brown grass, overgrown and threatening to spill out onto the walkway. Dead vines choke the once pristine, now dirty, archway that he found himself under. Even the cyber replica of his house was in ruins, vines climbing up the western wall, the only wall left standing in fact, as the rest of the house is seen to be in piles of rocks and slabs of wood and concrete, overgrown with ivy and brambles like the walkway. Except the open doorway leading into the house and carpet, up the gravity defying staircase, which was still standing despite the rest of the house having fallen apart. Rito even noticed his room was still standing, nothing holding it up, but the bed, the desk and lamps all intact, even the door still standing without a wall surrounding it.

He was just as surprised to see dead trees poking out from his greenhouse, vines crawling up and around their trunks, choking them of their life, as the spread past the broken glass roof and spill out and over, greedily taking in the sunlight. That was when Rito realized just how wrong the sky looked, all purples and reds, like the very atmosphere was toxic around him. Rushing past all the broken and upset stones of the walkway, scraping past the grabbing thorns and into the rubble that was the house, he rushes up the stairs and reaches his door to his room. Pushing it open, swinging to the side like it was still hinged, even though there was nothing but air left, Rito entered his room. Finding his bed still made, and his desk drawers untouched, Rito ignores everything and rips open the desk drawer. Pulling out all the letters inside, he ignores their fluttering all around him, as he searches for Lala's letter.

Finding it at the bottom of the pile, he pulls it out in relief, glad something could still make sense. Ripping it open, Rito pulls out the letter and tosses the envelope away from him. Trembling hands holding the letter, he unfolds it and stares at its contents. Flipping the paper over, he stares at it in confusion. He turns it around again, holding it up to the light, before falling to his knees. "It's blank?" he cries out in frustration, "Why is it blank?" He crumples it as he closes his fist around it, staring at the piece of paper in anguish. What happened to him? Just where had he ended up? Why was everything so wrong?

"Oh Rito, you are so, so wrong," a voice says behind him, "You're exactly where I want you!" Rito turns behind him to see who is speaking. Zastin is standing there, at the doorway, smiling as he seems to revel in Rito's pitiful state. Rito then realizes just why Zastin had looked so wrong, as he stared at the man in this mockery of his room. His hair reached past his shoulders, something Zastin would have never allowed. "Correct, Rito, I'm not Zastin, though I bet he is my very distant descendant," Not-Zastin walks towards Rito, bending down on one knee as he reaches him, "You can call me Bladix's- well, the Ninth Blade's true self, deep down; I'm, in fact, the remains of his former Master." Rito looks at the man in horror, as he flashes back to the memories he had seen, of the man who slew Chronos, and was slain by his apprentice. "That's right Rito," Not-Zastin says, continuing to smile creepily, "You can call me Creed, Creed Diskenth, you could also call me your Master, because I'm in control now!" His tone had been even, not even shifting but retaining an edge of growing horror as they hit Rito's ears. Then Rito eyes the broken sword, lying at his feet between Creed and himself, where it had been forgotten once he had entered the room.

Creed looks down and back up at Rito, frowning as he does so. He then slowly begins to reach for the blade. That was all Rito needed, as he lunges for the blade, grabbing it and thrusting upwards as Creed goes for the blade as well. "W-well, Kid," Creed stutters out, blood suddenly leaking form his mouth, "You've won for now, but next time you won't be so lucky..." Rito opens his eyes, to see he hit his mark, the blade embedded into Creed's chest. "You can't always keep your hands clean, kid, you have to bloody them sometimes," he says sneering at Rito, blood flowing down the sword as he speaks, "You can beat back the darkness... but you can't resist the temptation of power for long...it will consume you, and when it does, so will I!" The sword that Rito has seen filled with spider cracks, suddenly begins to reverse its damage, spreading it to Creed instead. Rito watches as Creed's skin begins to crack and fill with the same purple energy, and Rito can't help but watch in horror as his skin begins to pale and turn ashen in color. "Next time kid..." Creed speaks, his face flaking away into formless darkness, "Adam...won't be able...to protect you... for Bladix...will return..." Creed turns to ash, and Rito is left holding the fixed Ninth Blade.

Suddenly the ash begins to pick up, swirling around in a cyclone, until it begins to reform. Rito begins to hold up his weapon, ready to strike back at whatever horror comes his way, but he pauses at the last moment. Striking blonde hair and red-gold eyes stare up in confusion at Rito Yuuki, rich, tanned skin graced with youth, unlike Creed. ' _ **Rito Yuuki?**_ ' Adam asks, as he looks around to see the horrifying replica of Rito's Cyber House, _**'Geez, who redecorated in here...'**_ He blinks up at Rito and realizes that he is holding the Ninth Blade. ' _ **Well, isn't that interesting,'**_ he states, looking over the sword, ' ** _It seems my missing piece has returned, Rito Yuuki, I am whole for once in my short life...'_** He puts his hand on the blade, and suddenly the sword gleams with golden light. ' ** _How odd..._** ' Adam states, staring as the light grows, ' ** _I don't know what's happening Rito Yuuki, but I think you'll be waking up-_** '

* * *

 _School Infirmary_

Waking up to the shining light of the setting sun, Rito blinks his eyes and realizes he is surrounded by four white curtains. He sits up in the room, and notices his sword is whole and nearby, the jewels once again a shining red. Rito realizes that everything is going to be different now. Now he has to know.

* * *

 _Rito's Cyber House_

Rito had found the house just as he remembered it, the phantom images of that terrifying nightmare fading as he moved on. Leaning against the desk is the Ninth Blade, sitting free of any wrappings or bindings. Adam had been silent once Rito had left the school's infirmary of his own free will, but Rito knew he was in there, somewhere. He would imagine he's cleaning up whatever mess that monster in his nightmare made of the sword. They both would be scarred by that memory, as they waited. Zastin was still on his way home, Lacospo and Azenda were still at large, and Lala was still missing. But he had to know what her letter said. She had even given her blessing to follow his heart. And he needed to know what it said, if he was ever going to move on.

Pulling open the drawer on its sliding track, Rito finds the crisp, white envelope on top. Grabbing it and flipping it over, he notices it is sealed with a kiss, a red shade of lipstick smudged over its fold. He gulps as he breaks the seal, and gently removes the letter from its package. He even takes the time to set the envelope down, not wanting to waste the last kiss from Lala he may ever receive. Rito unfolds the letter, and smiles as he sees the words written on its page.

 **End Chapter 27**


	28. Interlude: A New Ending

_Disclaimer: I do not own To Love Ru._

* * *

 _Memorze, Ten Years into Lala's Future_

Lala wiped the sweat form her brow, and stepped back to admire the last piece of the main machine having been put into place. Now all that was left was a proficient power source, which led to Lala looking at the back of her machine. A mile long power cable, of gigantic thickness and durability, stretched as far as her eye could see, through various hangers and twisting through rooms, in an effort to collect as much power as necessary. Hence the need for the mile long cable reaching to the Devilukean shuttle's power converter, since the facility they were currently in was barely able to sustain everyone as it was.

She starts a diagnostic through the Pyon-Pyon Warp-Kun Dx, Mk. Chronos, to ensure it would activate properly and not send her hurtling through time and space into an era or planet she couldn't return from. She also had it checking the ship's energy grid, to make sure there weren't any problems with the ship or the cable, that could lead to some other catastrophic failure. Satisfied, she turns to find Lacospo approaching her, with Peke by his side. "Lala, I'm glad to see you finished in time, with everyone's help," he states with a leery smile, "Rito is less than ten minutes out, he hasn't responded to Ren's communication satellite, so I believe he will come knocking on Eden's door soon." He sighs, grabbing at Lala's hand and cupping them between his. "There is something I have to tell you Lala, and it cannot wait," Lacospo states, "I initially intended-" Lacospo is cut off by the blaring of sirens, and the change of lighting, causing Lala to pull away and stare in shock at the base around her.

"What's going on?" Lala asks Lacospo, "Is this something that should be happening?" People shuffle around them, in a blur of panic and shouting, until Lacospo pulls a nervous and young looking elfin human from the mass panic.

"What's happening?" he demands, "Those alarms shouldn't be going off until something breaches Memorze's atmosphere, and Adam's ship is still eight minutes out!" The young girl cowers under Lacospo's gaze, but quickly pulling him away, Lala looks at the girl with a sympathetic smile.

"I-it's an unidentified projectile, it was fired from the flagship,," the young girl states, "It almost didn't register on scanners, because its so small, but we tripped the alarm to warn everyone to get evacuate civilians and then get into defensive positions." Letting the girl go on, Lala turned back to Lacospo.

"Where is Uwe, Mikan, and Nana?" she asks, "If Adam was targeting the base, he'd go after his daughter first, are they safe?" Lacospo nods.

"They'd be in the central bunker, lowest level in the base with a secret exit out into tunnels that lead into the mountains," Lacospo states in return, "If Adam does come here personally, Peke has orders to rendezvous at a beta site with a spare ship to take them off world; Uwe's safety is our top concern if Adam goes wild on this base." He nods to the door, where Yami is currently entering through the vacating crowd, to meet up with them.

"They're secure Lala, Ryoko Mikado and Oshizu are currently watching over the ship in lock down, to keep the power flow from being interrupted, and Ren is guarding them with a squadron of his personal guards," Yami states, "I'll stay here to watch over you until you can activate the time machine, you're our top priority in keeping this whole mess from getting worse..." Laal nods, then quickly moves to her invention to speed up the process of preparing the machine.

* * *

Mikan, Nana, and Uwe are all sprawled out onto the floor, knocked unconscious and shocked by the betrayal they hadn't seen coming. She had made sure to inject them all with a mild sedative, to keep them both safe and unaffected by the carnage that would shortly be ensuing outside. Locking the door from the outside with a special spatial lock, one the Devilukean guard would recognize from their briefing to not disturb, she walked towards her next objective, which was to open the nearest vacant hangar door. In less than five minutes, Hangar Thirty Six opened, to reveal a fiery red head standing at the door, flanked by a squadron of Devilukean guards in siege armor, holding various close combat weaponry. "Very good, spy," Red-Headed Mea, the youngest of the Three Facets of Darkness, congratulates the girl, "I always knew you had it in you!" Peke bows, as her eyes flash from their natural pink, to purple, and back.

"Yes Mea Sama, this way to Hangar Twelve, the spaceship powering Lala's means of escape is located there," the monotone voice of the robot states, "Ren sama, Mikado Sensei, and Oshizu sama, are all located within the Hangar, as well as guards stationed to protect King Ren." Mea nods, and turns back to her command.

"You heard the 'bot, do what you want with the guards, but keep Ren, Mikado, and Oshizu alive," she orders, the men crying out in affirmation, "Adam wants them alive, and try not to damage the ship in the process... I'll be seeking out our King's bride-to-be."

* * *

Adam watched from the bridge of his ship, in full battle armor, as the flagship descended into low orbit above the planet Memorze. It currently hovered high above the massive prison holding dozens of dissenters and political enemies of his. "Fire," Adam commands, "Blast a hole directly into their secret bunker." Firing up the weapon, Adam smiled at the carnage he was unleashing onto the unsuspecting fodder below. Momo gripped tightly onto her own arms, crying to herself as she watched from the sides, bound hand and feet in chains, and watched over by an impassive Nemesis.

* * *

Yami looked up, as the first blasts rocked the whole base, causing Lala and Lacospo both to stumble from the aftershocks. "He's blasting through the prison above, he's going to drill a hole into the lower levels of the base," Yami states, still staring upwards, "The bastard doesn't even care about who he could be hurting in the process, not even his own men." Alarms begin to sound, louder than ever, and Lacospo is quick to track down what they meant.

"Ren's being attacked, it seems someone let guards into the base through a vacant hanger," Lacospo reports, squinting at the screen, "It sounds like he was assaulted by a dozen guardsmen, before Red-Headed Mea showed up and took down the rest of his guard; it seems she's trying to break into the ship, but they're using the ships blasters to keep her away as long as possible..."

"Damn, she must have been the unidentified projectile, she was probably utilizing a troop transport to invade the ground, as Adam attacked us from above," Yami states, "If she manages to knock out power, we're all going to be screwed..." She looks back to Lala and powers up into her Darkness form. "I'm sorry Lala, but I need to go keep Mea from undermining our whole plan!" she states, moving to the door, until it opens to Peke's smiling face, "Peke, aren't you supposed to be guarding-" Her words aren't even finished, when Peke raises a weapon to Yami and fires an electrical shock into her system. Yami breaks her darkness form down, as she falls unconscious from the shock. Two guards suddenly enter from behind Peke, holding up a shield and pike each, towards Lacospo and Lala.

"Peke!" Lala cries out, "What are you doing?" She cries out, as she is hit by one of the guards pikes, before grabbing it out of his hands and snapping it in two. She grapples for the man's shield, then bats him backwards with all her strength. She then tosses the other shield at the unsuspecting guard's exposed head, knocking him to the ground and out cold. She then turns to Peke for an explanation.

"I'm sorry Lala Sama, but Adam Heika managed to alter my programming," Peke states in her robotic monotone, "I have secretly been a spy within Eden for the past eight years, ever since Mikado sama took me with her; Rito never could stand to get rid of me after Momo took me home, Adam merely purposed me to serve his end games." She raises her hands, charging another electrical bolt towards the time machine. "Adam always planed to take down Eden when the time suited him, he merely chose to speedup his plans when all his political enemies were in one place," Peke states, "It was merely the misfortune of Lala's presence that alerted him to the need to step up his plans, and for that he will be eternally grateful to you, Lala sama, for helping him proceed..." She is about to fire the bolt of electricity, when a massive scythe suddenly cuts her arm off at the elbow. Looking beyond the entryway, Peke's eyes visibly widen, before a few dozen threads of dark matter blow her away from the door.

Nemesis walks through the door, followed by Momo in chains, pulled along by the living weapon. Lala almost cries out, until Adam steps through, a triumphant grin on his face, as he walks past Momo and Nemesis, stepping over Yami's unconscious form with barely a glance, and stopping to beam at Lala and Lacospo, his scorpion tail swirling in giddy anticipation. "My, my, look at what we have here, is this a time machine?" Adam states, eyeing the invention with wonder, "Oh, how busy you've been, my darling!" He turns to Nemesis and motions for her to pick up Yami, which the living weapon does, dragging her unconscious form back behind Momo and herself. "It's a pity Yami betrayed me, all her power will be going to waste, after all," he states, before turning to Lacospo, "Sorry old man, but you've failed in ruining my perfect universe; in fact, Mea should be cutting off the power to this machine...now!"

The machine, in fact, flickers and dies, lights going dim as the power is cut off from the ship. "Oh, deary me," he says, pointing to the machine, "Did you need that to work?" Helaughs, before turning to face Lala. "Do you even know what he has said is true, my dove?" Adam asks, "Did he ever tell you the truth about why he brought you here, why he formed Eden, or how he really lost his sight?" He laughs when he sees her confusion, before turning to stalk up to Lacospo, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. "You didn't even tell her the truth, you vile little toad!" he picks him up and forces him into the wall, "Did you tell her how you lost against me, when I hunted you down when you hid in your summer house on Regulus, or how you managed to hunt down Zastin, torture him for the location of Hades, and them kill him without any remorse, whatsoever?" Lala turns to Lacospo, a shocked and betrayed expression across her face.

"You're right, that was my greatest in a long line of failures, but it was long before I ever chose to turn my life around, and I swear, I was going to tell you Lala," Lacospo states, his eyes welling up with tears, "I've kept that secret, and swore to bring those loyal to you, Lala, together to destroy the diabolical empire I saw forming before my eyes; an empire I had inadvertently created by letting my crazed, vengeful wife one last petty act to spite Rito, if we couldn't beat him fairly..."

* * *

 _Nine Years Ago_

Azenda stood high above Rito, looking down on him, as he readied his sword for battle. "Azenda, let her go!" Rito states, staring down the crazed assassin queen, who held Lala at knife point, "I swear, if you or Lacospo harm her, you'll taste the edge of my blade!" Azenda merely smiles before letting go of the knife, before pushing Lala down the rubble of the Yuuki house that reached up to the second floor, from the roof and floor debris. Rito quickly rushes up to meet her, before he feels that he can't even move his own body. "W-what?" he asks, as he feels his body move on its own, leveling his blade in his hands, "S-stop it." Lala gets up in a daze, shaking her head and checking her body for any cuts and bruises.

"Rito!" she cries, looking up to see her fiance slowly walking towards her, "I'm okay!" She goes with open arms to hug him, in a tearful reunion. She doesn't even see the blade move, as it embeds itself in her breastbone. Her eyes open in shock, before she coughs reflexively, blood dribbling out of her mouth in the process. The wind whips the fire in the rubble back into a frenzy, as Azenda cackles madly.

"Azenda, what have you done?" Lacospo calls from his spaceship, which was currently hovering beyond the rubble of Sainan, having destroyed most of it while Azenda faced off with Rito and Lala, "I told you not to harm Lala, she'll die without medical attention!" Azenda just ignores him, as Lacospo watches in horror the events unfold before him.

The fire raged around them, as Azenda laughed at his misfortune. He could only stare in horror at the blood on his blade, as it slowly trailed down from the tip, over the handle, and onto Rito's hands. The tip wedged into the body of the one he loved, now dying on the floor. "No!" he cries out, "LALA!" Removing the his hands from the blade, he grabs her as she collapses to the floor, and into his arms. "Lala..." he cries out, tears staining his cheeks, "No, please..." She smiles at him, putting her hand to his face as the light in her eyes begin to fade.

"Rito, it's okay," Lala coughs out, "Don't forget I- love- you-" Closing his arms around her, he brings her closer to him, not caring as her blood mixes with his tears of sorrow. Lacospo watches as Rito's face contorts with confusion, then anger, before he turns to the forgotten sword he had dislodged from his beloved's chest. Rito grasps the sword, and all sense of his former humanity begins to burn away at his touch, as the dark matter begins to bubble up through the pores of his skin. Lacospo watches as the monster that was once Rito Yuuki, raises it's now flaming blade, basked in glorious purple, an unholy light of the void of space. He then watches as this new monster proceeds to kill Azenda. Lacospo then wisely chooses to retreat, as the monster's gaze glances towards him. He was not unashamed of the tears he shed that day.

* * *

"I've regretted that mistake from the day I made it, and the resulting mistakes I made out of anger afterwards, but ever since I've done my best to undo them," he states in reply, "Now, I'm prepared to face your anger, Adam, but please, let Lala return tot eh past..." Adam merely laughs off his pleas.

"And let her avoid this very future?" he balks, "Hardly, I'd rather send back a clone to take her place, then let her go back in time!" He levels his gaze at Lacospo, before letting him go, and turning away from him. "Very well, I'll at least be lenient towards her, since she still doesn't understand the ways of my new universe," he states, pondering something, before his eyes light up, "Ahh, why don't we recreate her death as your punishment then, ehh Lacospo?" Lala quickly opens her eyes, and stands between Lacospo and Rito.

"No, no more death like that, Rito!" she calls out, "I forgive him, he didn't do it, Azenda did!" Adam looks at her, a dangerous crazy glint in his eyes.

"How can you be so forgiving of a man, who only wished to use you to inherit a kingdom he was too weak to take for himself?" He sneers, and whips his tail back, ready to strike, "Perhaps t's too late for you, Lala, if this toad's poisoned your mind against me already, maybe I should just cut my losses!" Adam begins to strike out with his orichalcum tail, it's three pronged blades ready to dig through Lala's very heart, just to reach Lacospo. Lala closes her eyes, not wanting to die, before feeling like she was falling to the floor. Lala opens her eyes, to see Peke impaled on Rito's tail instead, pinned to Lacospo instead of her.

"I-I-I-I'm s-s-sorry La-la-la-la," the robot turns it's head towards he position on the floor, "I f-f-failed you on-on-once before, not n-now..." The pink eyes dim, as Rito removes his artificial appendage from the wall, allowing Lacospo's lifeless body to fall to the floor, but keeping Peke's trapped in it's three pronged grip.

"Hmmm, perhaps I didn't erase enough of her loyalty programs," Adam remarks, before turning his attention to Lala, "Now, about you..." Before Adam can do anything, the time machine behind Lala lights up, back to fully operational status. "What is going on?" he cries out, before opening a communication channel to Mea, though a screen pops up it shows static only.

* * *

Red-Headed Mea, currently groans from her sublime position on the floor, her hair in tatters and bleeding from the many cuts and scratches on her entire body. Ren is currently nursing a broken arm, turning on the power supply, and looking at his mysterious savior in utter confusion. "Hello Father," Adam states, grabbing Mea's communicator and staring at the static filled screen, "I'm coming for you; it's time for a little family reunion." The screen flashes to life, and 'Adam' is staring right back at him, Lala in the background, leaning against the time machine's console.

* * *

'Adam' stares at the impossible before him, before a look of anger crosses his face, and he smashes the communicator in his bare hands. "Who was that?" Lala asks, looking to Momo and Nemesis. Momo merely shrugs her shoulders in confusion, as Nemesis bares her teeth and clenches her fists together. In one swift motion, she unlocks Momo's cuffs and places herself between Momo and 'Adam'.

"I knew you weren't him, and I damned well knew you weren't my son, after you didn't even bother attempting to brush off my advances," Nemesis states, readying over a dozen, if not more, strands of dark matter with which to attack 'Adam' with, "I don't know who the hell you are, but you'll pay for impersonating my son!" She attacks 'Adam' in a blur, moving almost too fast for Momo or Lala to see. Suddenly the body of Peke goes flying into Nemesis, causing her to skid backwards, dropping the robot's lifeless torso and positioning herself into a defensive stance.

"Come now, Nemesis, I'm exactly who you think I am," 'Adam' states, "I'm Yuuki Rito, I'm the Ninth Blade's soul, though I have to say I find this tail more suitable for my taste... it almost feels like being in my original body." He flexes his muscles, before centering his gaze back on Nemesis. "As strong as this human's body has been augmented by your powers, Nemesis-kun," he states tauntingly, looking back at Lala with a smirk, "It's still nothing compared to my true, Devilukean, body!" A flash of recognition passes over Nemesis' eyes, as she recognizes who is possessing Rito's body.

"Bladix?" she states in confusion, "Rito totally destroyed your soul, he told us himself, when the energized dark matter wiped the nanites!" 'Adam' merely chuckles in return at Nemesis.

"True, and I prefer my old name, Creed Diskenth, since we're being honest," Creed states, "Lacospo forgot to mention that he had a piece of my true self hidden away, the last piece of consciousness, my soul, left inside it waiting to be reunited with the rest of the Ninth Blade; Lacospo never knew he gave me a way to reunite and join the Ninth Blade's soul." Creed smiles, as he turns to Nemesis and Momo. "Though Rito had managed to fight me into the deepest recess' of Adam's consciousness, upon Lala's death, there was a crack in Rito's defenses," Creed states, "One I wholly took advantage of, influencing Adam subconsciously at first, before Gid's last attack shattered the Ninth Blade into two pieces..." He then puts his tail into his hand, pointing to each of the tipped blade in turn. "Thankfully Rito managed to have the blade itself forged into bladed guards for Anubis' tail, which became my new resting place, until I subsumed Rito completely," Creed states with a laugh, "I guess Adam didn't die off, forgotten in that accursed hilt that went missing..."

This time Momo laughed, which caused everyone to look her way. "I guess when Uwe asked to turn that hilt into a necklace, it was a good thing she kept it on her," Momo states, smiling, "I guess that's why she's been so rebellious, she's had a guardian angel all her life..." Creed merely sneers at the Queen, before moving his tail to block one of Nemesis' attacks.

"Certainly so," he grunts, as he strikes out with his tail towards the dancing Nemesis, "He would be the reason I could never get her to act like I wanted." Striking out blindly, he causes Nemesis to falter, and manages to grasp his hands around her neck. Nemesis' eyes widen in fear, as Creeds hands glow in their telltale purple color. "Good night, sweet princess," he mocks her, before draining her quickly, reveling in her scream of pain before tossing her away, "And with one less obstacle..." He goes to turn to Lala, before he feels the shadows tug at his very feet. He looks down, just as the shadows pull his feet right from under him, Adam appearing in their place.

"Hello Creed," Adam states coolly, hands blazing with his own dark matter, "Let's have a reunion battle, shan't we?" Creed growls in return, shedding his armor in seconds, and raising his own hands in defiance, as he lights them aflame. In a flurry of fists and purple flame, a storm of kicks and energy goes flying, as everyone is helpless to look on. Lala meanwhile looks at the whole scene, and decides to turn her attention to more important matters, as the time machine kicks into completion, having finished its diagnostic scans.

"Come on, work," she states, as she slowly begins the activation sequence, painfully aware of the ensuing battle around her, watching helplessly as Adam and Creed fight over Rito, and Momo looks over Nemesis' weakened state, her physical state of being beginning to deteriorate physically. Lala continues to try and get the activation sequence just right, and begins to input coordinates.

"Enough!" Creed states, blowing back Adam, who braces as he lands, "This ends now, boy..." Creed readies his tail, as Adam motions with one fist out to come at him. As Creed charges towards him, they fall to the floor, grappling together, as Creed tries to end it with a fatal blow from his tail. Suddenly, as the two are grappling, dark strings wrap around Creed's tail, wrenching fast and harshly, ripping the tail in two. Everyone turns their attention, seeing Momo glowing in an aura of purple, her eyes reflecting this light, as strands of dark matter emanate from her hands. "Nemesis!" Creed growls, realizing the damage he had done was too severe for the living weapon not to take a host, "Fine, I will do this with my fists-" Creed stops, as he feels Adam's strong arms reach behind him and hears him speak.

"Imagine blade, full power," Adam states with a smile, much to Creed's horror. In less than a second, a flaming blade of pure dark matter has lodged itself through both Adam and Creed's body. Creed would survive, if he managed to free himself from Adam's death grip, his last ditch attempt to end this threat by suicide would be in vain, if he could just break free and absorb Adam's life energy... "I'm sorry it had to end like this, Rito, I couldn't save you," Adam responds to Creed/Rito with an apologetic smile, "Do it now." A gunshot rings out, piercing Adam's back, and entering Rito Yuuki's heart. Creed spurts out blood from his mouth, as he feels his lungs collapsing inside him. He was in shock, though, so it didn't really hurt like he imagined. As he looks past Adam, he sees it was the last person he expected who pulled the trigger.

"I'm sorry daddy," Uwe states, crying tears as she lowered Hades from her grip, letting the weapon fall to the floor, "Adam... Rito... Lala...I'm so sorry..." Teh eight year old collapses to her knees, as Nemesis/Momo glide to her side, embracing the wailing child in a tight hug.

"It's okay, it's all over now," Momo states, "I'm so sorry sweetie, but you did the right thing...you'll see..." Momo looks up at Lala, who was crying as she watched her loved ones die in front of her, herself still in shock from the scene she just watch unfold before her. "Go!" Momo shouts, causing Lala to break form her hypnotic bout of shock, "Go now, keep this all from happening... search out the weapon smith on Mistletoe, fix the Ninth Blade, keep Bladix from returning, and all of this can be prevented!" She lets go of Uwe, and runs up to Lala, standing over the console and staring at the past self of her eldest sister. "The Ninth Blade, it feeds on a persons anger, their hatred, their greed, and doubles it back on them, that's what birthed Bladix, the being which gorged on the blood and life force of it's enemies," Momo states, "Creed was a warlord, a shunned knight of the Deviluke empire from before the great galactic war, he had lost his position of favor when our Father's ancestors came into power..."

Lala stares up at Momo, confusion evident at her sisters insistence. "I looked this up long ago, when I began to suspect Bladix had taken control of Rito, and I learned of the terrible secrets hidden by the great galactic war; one, a specific tale of a disgraced ancestor of Zastin's," Momo states, "Creed sought to take the power of our ancient gods, Charmian invaders who had once controlled mystic energies as Taoists; legend states he stole the unfinished Ninth Blade of Chronos and fed the blade with his blood, and an unending hunger awoke within him." Momo grabs Lala's hands, and holds them tightly. "He slaughtered many of our people across dozens of worlds, focusing on the few remnants of the Charmian civilization that escaped to the stars, and escaped his hunger; our blood was apparently an intoxicating substitute to sate the blade's hunger," Momo continues, "Until all record was lost of him on Mistletoe, some think he ran out of power due to the planet's properties, but a single legend spoke of Chronos' apprentice, who had escaped to the stars with his master's last project, the gun Hades."

"Mau!" Lala states, and Momo blinks in confusion, "He was like Celine, I met him before when I went to Charmia's past."

"Apparently, this 'Mau', escaped with Chronos' techniques, and finished Hades in secret," Momo continues, "He also was stated to have faced Creed, killed him after sustaining mortal injuries, before somehow gaining immortality in an unspecified way... supposedly pirates docked above Mistletoe, found Bladix and a living mummy, before making away with the blade and leaving behind the deadly planet, unsure of what they saw."

"But Bladix awoke again, and that began his legend," Lala replies, "Mistletoe, huh, isn't that Class S dangerous?" Momo nods in return, before stepping back from Lala and the machine.

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough... how do you think we got Hades repaired, and an orichalcum bullet?" Lala widens her eyes in response, but smiles as she begins the sequence to return home, "Don't forget what I told you!" Lala nods, as she disappears in a flash of pink, a wave of energy tossed outwards from her disappearance.

Momo looks at herself, as her hands begin to become transparent. "Mama!" Uwe shouts, running towards her, the same problem occurring to her, "What's happening now?" Momo merely smiles, and looks up, seeing the base around them begin to fade away, revealing the open night sky above them.

"Something wonderful, Uwe," Momo states, smiling as she looks around the room, "The future is changing!" The bodies of Lacospo, Peke, Adam, and Rito all begin to fade away like scattered dust on the wind. Momo watches as her hands begin to do the same, and sadly smiles as Uwe disappears before her eyes. She closes her eyes against all odds, and lets the sweet embrace of the newly rewritten existence take her.

* * *

"Can you tell me a story?" an eight year old girls asks, sitting on the older Devilukean female's lap, the young girls usual pigtails uncurled and causing her hair to fall over her eyes, as she sleepily yawns, "Pleaseeeee?" The pink haired woman merely chuckles, as she moves the girl's tail out of her face, which had suddenly curled upwards with the yawn, causing it to bop the older woman in the face.

"How about I tell you the story of how your daddy saved the universe?" the older woman states, "It began about nine years ago, long before you were ever born dear..." The young girl's eyes sparkle in the starlight, as she looks up with curious, gold-brown eyes. "It was the day he saved the princess from an evil queen..." she begins, "And it ended with him expelling the greatest, most ancient and evil darkness the universe had ever known...at cost we never could have foreseen..."


	29. To Mistletoe we go!

_Disclaimer: I do not own To Love Ru._

Rito stares at the letters within his hands, eagerly awaiting to dig into their contents. He begins to read:

* * *

 _Rito Yuuki,_

 _If you've found this letter, it either means I've been kidnapped, ransomed off, or died off, no doubt in some tragic twist of fate. If I've been kidnapped, read on. If I'm being ransomed, refer to Zastin, Momo, or Nana. If none of these are available to comment, read on. If I've died... Stop._

 _I mean it Rito, stop reading._

 _ **STOP!**_

 _I need you to live Rito, for yourself. For Mikan, for Nana, for Momo, for Celine, and for everyone else in your life who loves and cares for you, Rito Yuuki. I love you too much to see you become twisted into some totalitarian monster, enforcing their rules to make everything 'perfect'._

 _You're perfect just the way you are Rito, whether you have powers,a sword, or a crown on your head. Rito Yuuki, you were the kindest, most sweetest gentleman ever to grace his presence on the universe, and for that the universe should thank you._

 _That doesn't mean you should go out and take it by force though, it was just supposed to be an inspiring speech, so don't take that last sentence too literal._

 _Now, if I am not dead, and I've been ransomed, see the next paragraph. If I've been kidnapped, you can just skip ahead to the one after that._

 _Don't give them what they want. Being Princess of Deviluke, whoever was stupid enough to try and ransom me, didn't realize just how much they messed up. If I was kidnapped, as you are reading this, it is more than likely the Deviluke Empire, led by my Father, has already stormed the planet where my kidnappers thought they were safe. So don't worry, you'll probably be getting a call from me soon._

 _If I've been kidnapped, I want you to listen to what I told you above. These people have to be professionals, if they were prepared and able to overcome me at my best, with you or our friends by our sides, that means they are serious business. Whatever reason they have taken me, they don't plan on me making out of this alive. They'll blackmail, betray, and backstab anyone involved just to get at my Father, my Mother, and the rest of my family._

 _So don't get involved Rito._

 _Please._

 _I don't want to know I caused you heartache by being the one lost love that drove you into madness. I saw what you could become, and I don't want to see you hurt like that._

 _Lala Satalin Deviluke._

 _P.S. Please See Attached Letter, if I volunteered._

* * *

Rito looks at the page in his hand, before removing it and overlapping a secondary page on top of it. He begins to read it:

* * *

 _Rito Yuuki,_

 _You know, if you happened to just be doing some spring cleaning, and happened to stumble upon this letter, please ignore everything I said in the previous letter and just stop reading here._

 _Okay, knowing you more than likely respected my wishes, I'll be honest with you Rito. Whoever it was I went with, I must assure you I went willingly, it wasn't because of you. Or Momo, or Nana, or Celine, or Mikan, or Haruna, or Yami, Etc. Etc._

 _If it was Lacospo or Azenda, that I went with, I need to tell you this Rito,the secret I've been keeping for over a year. This is why I decided to write these letters, after all._

 _Over one year ago, while you were researching your familial history, I had a bright idea to build a time machine into the past and travel to the Charmian's lost home world. I met the man who forged the Ninth Blade, before it became Bladix, the man history and legend call the ancient Orichalcum weapons smith, 'Chronos'. In my time in the past I learned he went by the name Roido Goldweynn, he was a long distant relative who was the fraternal twin to one of my ancestress', though he never survived to see the transition of Charmian culture into a nomadic space culture. He was a good man, with an unusual apprentice who was very much like Celine, a boy Roido named Mau. He'll be important later, so don't forget him._

 _I managed to build a way to the future, originally a way home to the present of a year ago, yet something went terribly wrong. I had ended up Ten Years into the future, aboard a Devilukean ship in orbit of the ruins of Earth, though I quickly learned it was returning to Deviluke as it pulled away. I awoke to pink haired girl and her handmaiden, who told me she was the crown princess of the Deviluke Empire, and as I would learn, Mikan's charge. Yes, your sister was the older woman who had found me with the girl, nursed me back to health, and then was told to get me ready for a dinner date with the current King of the universe._

 _He was armored, at first, so I couldn't get a good look at him, but he was deceptively kind and charming in his own way. Then I learned he was You, Rito, he looked, sounded, and acted like you. But he was, in fact, a Monster wearing your body. He went by the name 'Adam',only I would learn latter Adam was an entirely separate being. This man, he was Creed, the very soul that birthed the dark blade, the cursed sword, Bladix. Somehow you retrieved a broken piece of Bladix that wasn't purified, and he corrupted you from the inside after my... untimely death._

* * *

Rito stops reading at that, staring at his trembling hands as he pushes the page away from him. He hadn't been dreaming, then, Creed had been real, as real as Adam was. He wondered if that piece of metal the blade had reabsorbed, was tainted by Bladix's soul, and in turn Creed himself. He would have to figure our a way to deal with this then. He goes back to reading the page, seeing there was still more.

* * *

 _I'm sure that gave you pause, but don't worry, by willingly surrendering myself we've no doubt already altered that potential future. Yay! Trust me, it ended with everybody nearly dying, it wasn't a very pleasant history to learn. But now I can give you suggestions/instructions on how to fix it all._

 _Remember Mau, who I mentioned earlier? Supposedly, legend states he survived Bladix's rise to power and hid away in another forge Chronos had on a highly dangerous planet. Apparently that was how 'Hades' was finished after Roido's death. Digging deeply into the history surrounding Bladix's rise back into history, I believe I've found the secret forge Mau had hidden in. It's Mistletoe, Rito. If you go there, it will have the answers we need to stop Creed from ever rising to power. We can fix the future, before anything ever happens._

 _Rito, you're going to have to finish forging Bladix. It's the only way to keep Adam from succumbing to Creed, to keep them both, in turn, from corrupting you into a man I saw become a monster. I believe you can win Rito, and prove yourself worthy to wield the true power of the Ninth Blade, make it become the sword of a true Hero. Together, I know you can forge a brighter future, and become a King worth of leading Deviluke by succeeding my Father, King Gid._

 _I love you so much Rito._  
 _I believe in you, Rito._

 _Lala Satalin Deviluke._

* * *

To say Rito wasn't crying hot tears onto the page, would be a lie. Whether or not they were tears of relief, sadness, or joy, he couldn't even tell you. But now he had a goal in mind, and when he was determined, he would make it happen. He had to save Lala!

* * *

 _Mistletoe_

 _Zastin's Command Ship_

Rito stood next to Zastin, the Ninth Blade at his hip, unsheathed to the open air. Behind him, Kuro and Nakajima both stood doing their own things. Kuro was currently checking over his gun, polishing what he could in the dim lighting, while Nakajima stood in awe at the stars around him from the bridge viewing port, including the massive planet below them. "Is that it?" Nakajima asks, as the Devilukean ship pauses over the upper atmosphere, "Seems like just another planet to me... an alien planet, but still just another planet." Nakajima turns to Rito, and sees the intense gaze on the normally shy teen's face.

"That's it, it looks like it did the last time I was here," Rito states, "The mist is so thick, sensors wouldn't be able to penetrate the atmosphere, but Lala's instructions also included a potential area to set us down in..." Rito closes his eyes, sighing, as he thinks back to how he got here.

* * *

 _A Few Days Ago_

"Guys, I need to go to Mistletoe," Rito states, running down the stairs, "Lala left me instructions..." Suddenly all eyes are on him, as Rito approaches the group in the living room.

"What are you talking about, Rito?" Nana asks, "Lala left with Azenda and Lacospo before we could even do anything, how could she have just left you a set of instructions?" Rito pulls out the folded letter and it's envelope, presenting them to everyone and handing them off.

"I need to borrow Yami's ship," Rito states, looking towards the blonde assassin, "But I need Kuro to drive it, and intercept Zastin before he returns to Earth." Yami and Kuro both stare at the teen, before Mikan steps in and begins to object.

"Why are you trying to run off and be the hero, Rito?" Mikan asks, "We don't know exactly where Lacospo took Lala, why would you assume he took her to, one of the purportedly, most dangerous planets in the galaxy; you barely survived your last trip there..." She looks to the others, a look of exasperation on her face. "Do you expect us to let you take Momo out there again, after she just came back from being tortured by Azenda, after she got stabbed and had major blood loss?"

"He's not trying to be a hero, Mikan," Nana states, a bit of awe to her voice, "Lala really left specific instructions for him, this isn't just her handwriting, she knew something like this could happen; I just never knew she actually got around to writing up contingency plans...but this is something way out there, I mean, actual Time Travel?" Everyone turns to Rito, who sheepishly smiles and shrugs his hands in return. "But Mikan's right, you can't go to Mistletoe without Momo, it's too dangerous to bring her in her condition..." Nana states, "It doesn't help matters that you have two weeks to make any moves against Lacospo, you don't even know if you could find what you're looking for in that time..."

Momo looks up from her seat, Nakajima at her side staring at her in concern, having been helping her while everyone was doing their own things. "I can go.." she says through clenched teeth, "If anything, I can at least... use our upgraded Dedials to summon help..." She tries to get up, using Nakajima as a perch, but collapses back into her chair from exhaustion. "Damn..." Momo states, sweating, "I c-can't...I'm s-sorry..." A look crossed Nakajima's face, and he whirls on Rito and the others.

"I'll do it, I'll help in Momo's place," he states, turning back to the Devilukean girl, "If you'll teach me how to use your Dedial, I can learn who can help, and how..." Momo laughs at his attempt at bravery, but then Rito's voice cuts through.

"Deal, Momo, tell him what he needs," Rito says, taking command, "I'm sorry everyone, but this is something I have to do, if not for Lala, then for the safety of the universe and future at large." He grabs Adam, who laid to the side, forgotten and wrapped up tightly. With a quick tug of the wrappings, the blade itself is exposed to the air, Rito smiling as it gleams in the sunlight. "Now, let's see what I can do with you," Rito states to no one in particular, "If you want to be stronger, if you want to prove yourself Adam, if you help me prove my worth to wield you!" Rito begins channeling his energized dark matter into his hands, the sword glowing faintly in purple light as a result. In a flash of light, the whole room is blinded, but unhurt.

"Well then, Yuuki Rito, what are we waiting for?" a blonde, tan child, who looks eerily like Rito, states, "We'll both grow from this experience then, won't we?" Adam smiles, as he turns to the others with shocked expressions on their faces. "Well, hello everyone, Mother," Adam acknowledges the gaping Nemesis, "My name is Adam, and I'm so glad I could meet you all before I die."

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Rito asks Adam one last time, "There could still be another way?" Rito and Kuro both agree on leaving the Lunatique safe up above the dangerous atmosphere below, choosing to take one of Zastin's shuttles instead. Kuro and Zastin pilot the shuttle, as Rito converses with his blade, and Nakajima looks over Momo's Dedial.

' _ **Positive, Rito,**_ ' Adam states within his mind, having chose to return to his blade to conserve strength and power, ' ** _I may not be able to remember Creed taking over our shared consciousness, but I felt his aftereffects; I feel whole, a little more stronger, but I feel like most of it is locked away somewhere inside me, like he is trying to take control from me._** ' Rito smiles, knowing the living weapon was totally independent of the more powerful, ancient consciousness, who was barely a fragment of itself. Adam on the other hand, was now whole after Rito fought back Creed, and he was sure after the forging process was complete, Adam would be stronger than ever.

"You won't die," Rito states once again, "Just because the sword needs to be fixed, it doesn't mean you're the problem; you're a part of me, Adam, you are a reflection of my true self, even if it isn't whole yet, you can only get stronger from this." Rito thinks back to the prophecy he had seen in Adam's mindscape, the one Roido had told in his death.

' **_Death comes not once, but twice, before the blade is forged... to Mistletoe you must go, or lest ye be gorged..._** ' he remembers Roido saying while he was in a trance, ' ** _...the final forge await, you must belay your twisted fate..._** ' Adam must have been reading his surface thoughts, as the blade seems to warm in his hands.

' ** _Death hasn't come twice yet, Rito, Bladix was only destroyed once by Yami,_** ' Adam hums, ' ** _Maybe I'll survive or maybe I won't, but if we are to do this, than we must be resolute to see this through!_** ' Rito nods, before he jumps at a crash of boxes and crates at the back of the shuttle.

"What was that?" Nakajima asks, getting up and standing next to Rito, who readies Adam, "Did we bring a fifth person onboard while I wasn't looking?" Rito shakes his head, causing Nakajima to gulp in fear. "Hopefully it's just a rat..." he says hopefully, chuckling at Rito, "Maybe I can send one of Momo's carnivorous plants out..."

"Mau!" A voice cries out, scrambling out of the shadows and into the light, "M~aaaaa~u!" Rito drops Adam, picking up a crying Celine as she runs crying into his arms. Apparently she had heard just what Nakajima had suggested, and figuring the jig was up, ran to Rito in the hope of facing the consequences of her stowing away. "M~aaau," she states, looking up at Rito with pleading eyes, "Lala... gone... Momo hurt... mau...no hurt Papa..." She snuggles into Rito's shoulder, and Rito tried not to let a tear fall from his eye.

"Thank you, Celine," Rito says, leaning down to grab Adam, "I can't do anything with you now, so I'll have to take you with me, it's not safe to leave you all alone on this planet, even in a shuttle." He quickly sits and buckles Celine in, as they all prepare to enter Mistletoe's atmosphere. "Buckle up kid," Rito states, smiling, "It's going to be a wild ride!"

* * *

 _Ten Minutes Later..._

Rito was jumping down from the large branches of the tree they had crash landed into, holding Celine in his arms. Nakajima was currently being helped down by Zastin, who had managed to land the ship after the interference with the planet had managed to still knock out the insulated systems. Thankfully Rito had been told there were systems they could still salvage to get a message out, but the shuttle was dead in the water, as it was. Standing just behiind Kuro, pistol drawn, he watched the former assassin scan the area. "It's clear for now," he calls out to the others, "Keep an eye out, though, from what Momo and Yami told me, this place is a death trap for the inexperienced... that means you, Nakajima." The teen 'eeps' having heard that, checking the Dedial to assure it was still able to function, and relieved that it was.

Rito pulls out a paper map they had printed off of the area around them, checking the coordinates that Lala gave him, with the location they were currently at. Finding where he was with the Nakajima's help and using Momo's Dedial, he had a good idea where to go. "Follow me!" he calls out to the others, shifting Celine to his shoulder, "We aren't far, but who knows what we may come across..." A crash and growl in the surrounding brush, only heightens the authenticity of that statement. Zastin draws his blade, Nakajima thumbs the Dedial, Kuro cocks his pistol, and Rito holds onto Celine just a little bit tighter.

After ten minutes of walking, even Rito could tell they were surrounded by an amazing amount of things in the jungle around them. Nakajima had managed to help Kuro avoid a patch of power sapping Pawada flowers, and kept Zastin from falling prey to a trip vine. The place was certainly out to get them, and even Celine whimpered in fear of the jungle forest's very air about it. The howling calls around them, didn't really help soothe the child's anxieties. Kuro finally stopped in the middle of a big clearing, causing Rito to become defensive and place Celine on the ground between all four of the men, who circled each other, back to back. Adam even materialized, as Rito raised the sword in preparation.

Over a dozen various plant monsters, stepped out from the shadowy underbrush, revealing gnashing teeth, pretty but poisonous flowers, and ungodly sweet aromas meant to entice them into lowering their guards. Nakajma palmed his Dedial and flipped it open, Kuro raised his weapon, as did Zastin, and even Adam managed to charge up his hands in a flare of dark matter, as Rito's blade flowed with the dark energy. As a wave of plants suddenly rushed upon them, in a feeding frenzy, the plants spattered chlorophyll and their acidic digestive enzymes everywhere, causing damage, even as they cut them down.

Rito got a particularly nasty burn to his side, and it caused him to pause, just long enough for a predatory plant to break through their guard. It loomed upon her, as she cowered in fear at its attack. Rito knew he couldn't make it in time to save her. "Celine!" he cried out, reaching towards her, "Run away, get out of the way!"

She didn't respond, and Rito was fully prepared to get a shot off at the monster in a blind attempt to distract it, before Celine cried out in abject terror. "M~A~A~U!" She cries out, echoing over the din of the battle, "M~A~A~U~U~U!" Suddenly a shift in the battle occurs, as the cry echoes around and out into the shadowy underbrush. The plant monsters suddenly stop, all ceasing their attacks upon hearing the cry. Nakajima stops cowering behind a clinging vine, strangling one of the monsters, as Kuro stops shooting at them, and Zastin dislodges his blade from one of the fallen plants corpses.

The plants suddenly retract all of their dangerous, physical features, as even the odors and aromas retract. They seem to scurry around and back out into the underbrush, save one last plant, that jumps up and out of the underbrush, and scurries towards Celine like a snuffling pig, faster than even Zastin and Kuro could track it. "Mau?" Celine asks, watching the thing vault towards her, stopping just short of tackling her, before sniffing her all over, "Ma~u!" She laughs, as the bush sniffs all over her body, before beginning to act like some kind of puppy, licking her all over her face. Rito then recognizes the friendly little plant, from some vague memory of their adventure some time ago.

"The Luckberry bush?" Rito states in astonishment, "What's going on?" The berry ridden bush looks up at Rito, smiling as it does so, and rushing over to jump Rito, as it remembers its savior from before. "H~hey, stop it!" Rito commands, and the plant obeys, "Why did everyone suddenly stop, where did you come from?" The Luckberry plant, as intelligent as it was, stops attacking Rito, before walking back over to Celine. Leaning down and pushing the little plant in the direction it wants her to go, Celine gently grabs the plant's exposed trunk and begins to stand up from the ground.

"Mau?" she asks the plant, which cause it to shake its leaves in what Rito could describe as a happy motion, "Mau!" She turns to Rito and the others and motions. "Mau!" she states excitedly, "Home!" Rito picks up the plant girl, and sets her gently on the Luckberry's bush, and the group of adventurers follow the plant into the vast unknown. As they follow the bush through the dark underbrush, Rito begins to feel a slight deja vu.

' ** _I feel it too,_** ' Adam echoes from the back of his mind, ' ** _The Ninth Blade remembers being here before..._** ' Rito has his answer as to why this place seems so familiar, as they reach a clearing holding a massive tree. The very same tree he had seen within Bladix's memories of Creed and Mau clashing.

"Mau?" Celine states, as Rito walks towards the massive root system, "M~a~u!" Rito ignores Celine's cry, as he stands in front of a massive hole into the root system. Like a doorway into the underworld, the massive window into the darkness is cool and inviting. Rito knows he would be burned by blindly walking into the massive structure, so he turns back to face the others, who have retrieved Celine and stand a short distance behind him.

"This is it..." Rito states, looking towards Kuro, "We'll figure out if our orichalcum weapons smith survived or not..." Before he can even turn and walk into the gateway below, he feels a chill in the air blast forth from the entryway. He even watches as a mist rises from behind him, blowing outwards and past him in a cold, bone chilling wind. Rito turns around, and steps back at the haunting eyes staring back out at him. He would be stuttering, if he could have found his voice at the sight before him.

A massive, wooden hand reaches out from the entrance, gripping the side as another one does the same. Piercing, glowing green eyes stare out from the darkness, and the hands pull taunt as they draw forth the massive body of whatever plant monster lay hidden in the darkness. Rito watches as a face that seems both like a cross between tree bark and old leather, adorned with hair full of stringy moss and flowers, with a beard of lichen and moss that seems to reach past the giant's chest. As the man-thing breathes, the mist blows out from his very pores, blasting from his mouth like breath on a cold day. Rito notices the being is wearing clothes made of plants and flowers, that mesh so well, it seems like he is wearing a fine robe. Rito then notices the things chest is very wooden, almost like veins or vines had grown out or converged on a single spot, half hidden by the massive beard of moss. And then Rito notices the most peculiar feature of the wooden giant, in the form of a crown of wilted white and pink, a giant flower which tops the giant's head.

The beast stares Rito down with cold eyes, very human like in form, though more of a reflective gradient in the light. " **Who dares disturb my slumber?** " the rumbling voice of the giant states, " **Who dares to rouse the guardian of Mistletoe?** " He looks past Rito, towards Nakajima, then a defiant Zastin, he gains a puzzled look while observing Kuro, then his eyes settle on Celine. His eyes turn to Rito, an old and studious gaze impassively scrutinizing him. " **You bring a child to a planet of monsters?** " he barks out, roughly, towards Rito, " **Have ye' come to welcome death, or did ye' come to try and steal from me?** " Just as Rito was about to speak, Celine toddles forward, unafraid of the massive giant, and she stops just below him. As he looks down, his long beard nearly brushes with the ground, as he looks at the curious Celine.

She then puts her hand on the rugged and withered beard, tugging it slightly. "Mau?" she asks the older man, who gives pause at her words, "Mau, mau, mau... mau, m~a~u~" As she recounts her tale, the giant offers her his hand, which she gladly stands upon, and he brings his massive palm upwards to his face.

" **Mau?** " he speaks softly to the child, " **M~a~u?** " Celine merely nods in response, and the giant smiles in return. He moves the child to his shoulder, she sits down and grabs tightly onto his weathered and course hair, to keep herself steady. She smiles at the flowers growing in among his hair, whites and pinks, and all other kinds of wildflowers among the stringy moss. The man gets to one knee, his hands free of Celine, and his gaze still impassive towards Rito and the others. " **Hello, Yuuki Rito, my name is Mau,** " the giant, Mau the Apprentice, speaks, " **I have been waiting for you, for a very long time...** "


	30. Conduits and Avatars

_Disclaimer: I do not own To Love Ru._

"Celine has told me you wish to finish the forging of the Ninth Blade?" the giant form of Mau asks, "May I see the blade?" Rito nods, and then Mau takes the sword into his massive hands. Feeling over the sword with his rough and course hands, Mau smiles, his face creaking and crackling at the effort. Suddenly Mau's face contorts, as if sensing something else, his wizened eyes look back up into Rito's. "There will be a problem though..." Mau states, frowning, "I cannot finish forging the sword, because you have already bonded as its host." Rito opens his eyes wide, as the older plantasian gives him the sword back.

"But you have to!" Rito states exasperatedly, "I have to have the Ninth Blade at full power, I have to rescue Lala!" A sad look crosses Mau's eyes, his face creaking as it contort's into sorrowful and understanding gaze.

"Lala-sama is in danger, then?" Mau states, running his hands through his mossy beard, "Hnngh, I still cannot, even for my Master's niece..." He turns away from Rito, slowly lumbering into the depths of his tree. Rito follows, along with Nakaima holding Celine in his arms, Zastin sheathing his blades, and Kuro following last, giving one last glance out at the surrounding forest, as darkness creeps in with the sunset.

"Why can't you?" Rito insists the older man to answer, "This sword is my last hope, if I don't get it forged completely, I will lose myself to its darkness, to MY darkness..." He follows Mau to a main clearing in the underground base, where a seat of wood and stone is laid against the backdrop of a mess of roots curving up, over, and around the wood and stone structure.

"It's not that simple, Yuuki Rito, even if I wanted to help you, there is a newborn soul being held within the Ninth Blade," Mau sits on the massive throne as he speaks, raising one mighty paw and pointing it towards Rito, "The blade was never properly forged so the soul inheriting the blade could not fully mature, the very curse of the blade is the soul itself; a piece of you broken off and twisted by your darkest impulses, your greed, desire, your lust." He forcibly puts a fist to his chair, a solid whack echoing through the room. "It was Creeds's lust for power, his desire and greed that made him succumb to Bladix, a weapon and soul borne from the blood of a Charmian," Mau sighs as he grips his hand into a fist, "Blood, the very lifeforce of a Charmian itself, is intoxicating in ways of the spirit more so than even the mere presence of a female Charmian pureblood could cause to a mere man." He turns to Rito, his face grim.

"I refuse to believe you cannot to something about this!" Zastin states suddenly, getting up and walking towards Mau, "I have been Lala sama's bodyguard for her whole life, a loyal soldier and general to King Gid Lucieon Deviluke's armada's, and I refuse to believe that you would not do anything in your power to help the one girl whose left descended from your Master's family, the eldest daughter of Queen Sephie-" At that Mau turns his head towards Zastin.

"She is Sephira's daughter?" Mau states, pushing up just slightly from his throne, a change in his tone, "The Princess of Arks birthed Lala sama?" He sits back and throws his head back, chuckling as he does so. "Very well then, if she is her daughter, than there might be a way..." He runs his hand through his beard, and turns his head towards Nakajima and Celine, "Yes, there might indeed be a way..." Nakajima freezes under his eerie gaze, and Celine shifts uncomfortably under his watch as well. Mau turns his attention towards Rito once more, slightly frowning as he does so. "There is one way... a very ancient, very deadly secret passed onto me from Master Roido's notes and studies of ancient Charmian legends..." he stands up from his throne, and moves towards Rito, "You must break that bond before your sword can be forged, and there is a vague legend of ancient Charmian witches passing on their souls into new mortal bodies; though a vessel, and a conduit, are both needed."

Rito looks towards Mau, gulping as he does so. "What needs to be done, who do we need?" Rito asks, "I can be the vessel for Adam, since he is already a part of me..." Mau shakes his head, walking towards Celine and taking her from Nakajima gently. "You can't possibly intend for Celine to be involved?" Rito states, "She's just a child!" Mau laughs, deep and heartily towards Rito, as he walks over to Rito.

"Never, she wouldn't be compatible anyway, no, another sword is needed to play host," Mau states, cradling Celine as she sits in the crook of his arm, "I have an another sword I can use, an old one returned to me from a visitor I had long ago, who had intended to prove her worth in wielding it, but the sword had long served its purpose and needed to be restored." He moves a hand behind his throne, and pulls from an unseen crevice a bejeweled hilt and sheathed sword. "This is the first blade ever forged my Master Roido, a gift to the first man who had shown him the stars," he pulls the blade, a curved rapier by its looks, "It has since been restored to its former glory, just waiting for a new purpose; perhaps fate intended for this very crossing of the stars..." Celine coos as she looks into the shiny jeweled hilt, putting her small hand to the red gem.

"Then why do you need Celine?" Rito asks cautiously, "She can't be of any use to you..." Mau smiles, taking the sword gently away from Celine and sheathing it, before handing it to Zastin who is nearest to him.

"You are correct, in her current form she is of little use to me," Mau states, setting Celine onto his throne, before stepping back and sweeping out his hands to keep the others back, "But tonight is a full moon on Mistletoe, which is quite fortunate..." Rito looks on in puzzlement, until he sees moonlight begin to pour in from behind the throne.

"What are you doing?" Rito asks, "What's so special about Celine and the full...moon?" Rito looks up at Mau, before quickly turning his gaze to Celine. He remembers, a faint memory some months ago, on a night of a full moon. He watches as Celine begins to fidget in discomfort, as the moonlight begins to cross over her body, until she can't stand it and cries out.

"Mau!" she states out loud, "M~a~u-waa!" Suddenly the throne begins to be illuminated, the roots becoming vibrant and glowing white, as if reacting to Celine's very presence. Rito is held back from going to her, as are the others, as the vines begin to cross and weave over Celine in front of their very eyes.

"Watch," Mau simply states, as the vines and roots complete their work, leaving Celine encased in a glowing bubble of white light, "This is the best part, it was always my favorite!" Rito turns His gaze back, as he sees the light beginning to dim inside the bubble, until it's not even seen through the branches. The roots and vines then whither before their very eyes, and fall way like brittle, dry bones. In the place of the young child, is a woman of older stature and looks, dressed very similarly, in more revealing clothing, of the kind Mau wore. The girl's two piece skirt and top were made of stitched vines and leaves, even small bushes and decorative flowers adorned her cropped top. Rito immediately recognized Celine's adult form, though he knew no one else would.

"She changed?" Rito states in awe, looking up at a smiling Mau, "I thought that was a one time thing on Earth..." Mau shakes his head, before going over to the young woman and shaking her awake.

"Our species is very sensitive to the reflective light cast by a planet's natural satellites," Mau states, smiling as he picks up the dazed girl, raising her to her feet, "Normally we are diurnal, but on the night of a full moon, our bodies react and enter a period of rejuvenation, or maturity in Celine's case." Celine blinks at the massive form of Mau, before turning to the others in the room, with a look of curiosity crossing her face.

"What am I doing here, mau?" she asks, looking down at her dress and the state of the atmosphere between everyone present, "I remember sitting down on your throne, mau..." She scrunches her nose, trying to remember, but Mau merely grabs her hand as motions her to follow him towards Rito.

"I need your help, Celine, because you are a very special girl..." he states, looking between Rito and her, "Your form changed due to a unique relationship our kind has with the light of a full moon, and as such, you are much stronger, and able to become something I cannot in my advanced age..." He motions for Rito to lift up his blade, and he then guides Celine's right hand onto the blade. "Do you feel it, Celine, mau?" Mau asks, "In this form our connection to Tao energy is at its peak, tuned to the very life around us, it allows you to channel souls from one place into another; we need your help to move Adam into a new vessel, so the Ninth Blade can be forged." Celine looks up to the ancient, wooden being, and she finds he is very much like herself. She smiles and closes her eyes, feeling the blade beneath her fingers.

"So very old, so very lost, so dark and lonely..." Celine states out loud, before opening her eyes and looking towards Mau, "Why does this seem so familiar?" Mau merely smiles at the child's curious look, before motioning Zastin closer. He guides her left hand to the flat gem in the hilt of the rapier. "So cold, so very peaceful, yet I feel a fire beneath this blade," Celine states, "It wishes to be used, to taste air and the warmth of the sun... it understands, it is willing..." She moves her gaze from the rapier to Zastin, then to Rito, and finally on Mau. "What do I need to do?" she asks the friendly giant, "How do we begin?"

Mau moves his right hand to his left breast, where the wooden scars and dead vines seem to be covering an old wound. His hand begins to enter into his chest cavity, a slight look of pain crossing the weapon smiths face. A look of success crosses his face, as he begins to pull something from beneath his chest. A small, glowing sphere rests like a small ember above his hand, swirling in golden light as he moves it over to Celine. "We begin like this," Mau states, pushing forward, until the small sphere enters Celine's body just above her breastbone. In a small gasp of shock, Celine's eyes roll back into her head, as they too begin to glow with golden light. Before Rito or Zastin can even react or move away, Celine's hands grip the blades tightly at their hilts. Golden energy then washes out from her body, until the light up like sparks around the Ninth Blade's hilt.

Black and purple lightning, arcs out of the jewels, before crossing over Celine's entire body and down her other arm, into the hilt of the blade Zastin holds. Purple lighting enters the jeweled hilt, while the black lightning enters the hilt, then immediately arcs out and bites Zastin's metal gauntlets, causing him to drop the sword in pain. He nearly falls to his knees, embedding the sword into the ground as he falls. Celine nearly follows, until Mau grabs her, as she lets go of the emptied Ninth Blade and collapses limply into Mau's grip. Rito steps back, like an electric current had shocked him as well, an he immediately notices the difference, the absence within the blade he wielded.

"It is done," Mau states, motioning for Nakajima and Kuro, "You, green haired boy, take Celine and gently set her on my throne; you, black haired boy, hand me my weapon back." Kuro almost doesn't comply, until he reluctantly removes Hades from his gun belt, and hands it to Mau. He looks over the gun in his hand, snorting as he does so. "Inferior craftsmanship, shoddy material, not even ten percent orichalcum in the repairs..." he states, looking over the weapon, as Kuro and Rito stare in confusion at each other, Mau then looks up to Kuro and nods, "It's decided, before I forge the Ninth Blade, I'm going to fix the Tenth and remove the impurities, so your gun can react to your spirit and intention like it's supposed to." He takes the weapon and looks toward Rito. "Stay here, it won't take that long to fix this weapon; it's not as sophisticated as yours, it merely depends on spirit energy, it doesn't hold a soul," Mau then turns and walks away, into the deeper parts of the facility, "Don't touch anything."

Kuro and Rito look towards each other, Rito shrugging, before going to check on Zastin. "Are you okay Zastin?" Rito asks, leaning down to help the older knight to his feet, "It looks like you got a nasty shock..." He sees Zastin has already removed his gloves, looking at his shaking hands as he inspects them for burns.

"I should be burned..." Zastin states, turning his hands over and over, "But that didn't feel like any electrical shock... it was cold and stinging, but I wasn't hurt..." Zastin looks up to see Rito's hand, which he waves off, getting up on his hands and knees, before standing fully erect. "I'm okay, Rito, but that was not an experience I care to repeat..." he states, looking warily at the sword, "I think you should take that sword... I don't fully trust it." Rito nods, grabbing the blade and removing it from the ground.

"Adam?" Rito asks the sword out loud, "Adam, are you in there?" He doesn't think it had worked, until he feels the familiar buzz in the back of his mind, of Adam's presence. The transfer must have lowered his energy reserves, because he still kept silent, but he was glad the process had worked. Turning to Nakajima, who helped a dazed Celine to take a seat, he noted she was okay. "How do you feel?" he asks, approaching the pair, "Did that hurt?" Celine shakes her head in response, smiling up at Rito as she does.

"Actually, it was quite an out of body experience, it didn't even feel like anything at first," she states, "I just felt warmth, and I felt Adam somewhere within the blade... and something else, but I lost track of it when I transferred Adam into the rapier..." She scrunches her face in confusion,as if reliving the experience. "I don't know what it was, but it felt... odd," she states, looking back up at Rito as she speaks, "It was cold, and distant, like it was repulsed by the energy I was using to transfer Adam... it was like it was hurt by the light..." Rito puts an arm on her shoulder, giving her a comforting smile.

"It's okay now, Celine, it's all over," Rito states, "It's like you said, you lost track of it when you transferred Adam into his temporary home; you probably destroyed it with you power." Celine doesn't feel very confident in that, but she smiles anyway in return. The Ninth Blade was going to be fixed so anyway, darkness wasn't going to be a problem anytime soon.

* * *

 _Hours Later_

Zastin fell into a fitful sleep, shortly after the transfer of souls between the swords. Nakajima soon followed by resting on a log chair like a bench, along with Celine, who slept on the massive throne, head lolled to the side as she did so. Only Kuro and Rito were left awake, though Rito was currently feeling the tiredness creeping into his body. The ever awake Kuro, who Rito was beginning to believe was part owl, stood ever vigilant and facing the way Mau had left. is patience soon paid off, as Mau entered, Hades in hand and looking brand new. "What's that?" Kuro asks, looking at a small bag that the Plantasian handed off to him, "Some kind of new ammo?"

Mau nodded, as Kuro opened it to see a single golden bullet, with a black cap, surrounded by many other silver bullets. "A new mix of bullets that suck Tao energy from their targets, but not the gold one," the smith states, as Kuro brings the aforementioned bullet out, "Pure orichalcum in it's payload, gold shell to keep the hammer and pin from breaking on contact with the inner shell." He takes the Ninth Blade from Rito's tired hands, and holds it in front of him. "Good, very good," Mau states, looking at the blade, "Everything is here, no trace of anything that would react negatively inside... Rito, I know you want to fall asleep, but I'm going to need you for his next part." Rito perks up, as Mau pulls him towards the back of the room.

"I know you want to go to sleep, but I need to forge the Ninth Blade... tonight," he states, "My cold dark matter supply is almost out, but from what I know you can produce various states of dark matter, correct?" Rito nods, yawning just a little bit. "Good, because your power is the only way I'll be able to finish the blade's forging." He walks Rito back through the cool building, leading him deeper into the darkness, until a bright light is seen shining from within another room. As Rito approaches, he sees it's a forge, bright light and heat rolling off of the device as they draw close. Suddenly a door shuts behind Rito, and he flinches as harsh lights come on, revealing he had been lead into a separate room. "I apologize, I kept the lights off out of courtesy for your sleeping friends, but I need them on to work," he states, "I need to know if you can extend your dark matter to your whole body, Rito, can you do that?" Rito nods, yawning and rubbing his eyes, before pinching himself to wake up.

"Dark matter, I know how to form it, but you need cool dark matter?" Rito asks, slightly confused, "I didn't know there was different kinds?" Mau nods, before grabbing Rito's hands.

"You more than likely draw upon hot dark matter, the highly energized form you utilize to attack with," Mau states, "Warm dark matter is like the gourmand seasoning, compressed, neither hot nor cold, but a form of energy that is likely what you draw into yourself, while cool dark matter is the oldest form..." He closes his hand around Rito's, before grabbing something from a nearby table and placing it in his palm. He feels the difference, like an ice cube had just been put in his hand, though it felt like coarse sand that was ice cold. "That is cool dark matter, the least active form of the three generally noted forms of Dark Matter," Mau states, "While still highly active, it's perfect to neutralize the heat of a freshly forged orichalcum blade, with the necessary temperatures reaching quite inhospitable levels to survive..." Rito looks a little unsure at that, but Mau merely laughs at his uncertainty. "Don't worry, I don't plan on having you grab the sword with your bare hands, I want you to fill up a cooling tank I use," Mau states, much to Rito's relief, "If you can fill it up, I'll leave you alone until morning, and your sword will be done by then... then we can finish up the binding process, properly this time!" Rito nods, before following to where Mau points.

He thinks to how cool the dark matter had felt, how it seemed to draw warmth from his very core, and he imagines replicating the feeling. Channeling dark matter into his palms, he feels the warmth from his core begin to leave him, going until he can't stand the chill coming over him. Having closed his eyes, he opens them to see the bin full of coarse, dark particles that remind Rito of sand. "Very good, Rito, fine quality!" Mau states, pulling a pinch from the barrel, and letting it fall, "Now you can go rest, by morning you'll have a new sword!" Rito smiles, yawning once more, as drowsiness finally hits him, amplified ten fold by the sudden loss of energy and drain on his body. He doesn't even know how he didn't trip on his way back to the others, but his head hits the floor, and he is out like a light.

From a ways across the floor, golden eyes stare out from the darkness towards Rito, before closing on their own.


	31. Unwoven

_Disclaimer: I do not own To Love Ru_

 _Yuuki Household, Earth_

Mikan Yuuki woke up to another day of anxiety, stress, and worry, and it hadn't helped that she had been cooking for six people since her brother's sudden decision to go out into space to save Lala. Supposedly there was some ancient forge he could use to keep this 'Creed' person from ever rising to power. Mikan didn't really understand most of it, she had gone to make dinner for everyone when Rito explained everything, and she had only come in after he declared his intent to go into space with Black, Zastin, and Nakajima, after he volunteered. She knew he was just trying to prove himself to Momo after he got beat up trying to save her. She could tell he had a thing for Momo, which had honestly surprised her since she knew Momo had her eagle eyes on Rito alone.

Her brother was still stupid to let him go, and Mikan honestly thought that Momo was going to laugh off his attempt to join. Instead she didn't even argue, and that whole night Nakajima was learning all about Momo's Dedial and the plants she knew he would need to know about when they got to Mistletoe. In fact, Mikan had been quite suspicious as too her motives, but she hadn't given it second thought after they had left and Momo stayed behind. She had half a mind to confront the Devilukean girl before they left, figure out what her angle on letting Nakajima go in her place with her Dedial, was all about. She regretted it at dinner time when she figured out why she wasn't worried.

 _Earlier_

Mikan had been chopping up ingredients for her Miso broth to go with the main dinner, and she knew she had some time before the last dish was ready to be served. She washed her hands, wiped them dry, and hung her apron up as she left the kitchen. "Celine?" Mikan called out, going up the stairs to her room, "Celine, Dinner's almost ready!" She knocked on their shared room, opening the darkened room just enough to let light from the hallway shine into the slowly darkening room. She oddly found Celine's basket empty and devoid of the plant girl, which puzzled her greatly. She hadn't heard the child romping around the second floor, nor had she heard her rush down the stairs with her normal vim and vigor. She had thought that the plant girl was just sleeping, after all she was still a child, but the lack of Celine was starting to worry Mikan.

She had checked Rito's room, Lala's, Nana's, Momo's, the other upstairs rooms she would be able to get into to, and even the backyard. No Celine anywhere. "Where is she?" Mikan confronted Momo, who sat next to Nana while she watched the zoological program on the television, and read a book on some alien plants, "Have any of you seen Celine, at all today?" Mea and Nemesis, who both sat doing their own thing on the floor, both shook their heads.

"She's probably just in Lala's room, she is smart enough to recognize that Lala's not going to be coming back for a while," Nana states, "That girl and Lala were playmates, if not practically sisters, because when she wasn't with you, Shizu, or Mikado-sensei, Lala and her both watched Magical Kyouko together..." Mikan shook her head, trying to fight back the anxiety encroaching on her.

"No, I checked up there, I checked everywhere and she's not here!" Mikan states, starting to freak out and hyperventilate, "She never would leave the yard, not with anyone she didn't know, and anyone else would let us know if she was out and wandering about!" She turns on Momo, like a light flicked on in her head. Mikan slowly turns over to the Devilukean girl and practically gets up onto the table. You!" Mikan practically yelled in a deep threatening tone, "What did you do?"

Everyone else turned to Momo, who in turn set down her book calmly before gazing Mikan straight in the eye. "I didn't do anything," Momo states, "Nakajima invited himself along with Rito and Black; Celine decided one night of training wasn't enough for him..." Mikan practically jumps onto the wounded girl ready to punch her, if Yami hadn't just walked in with Takoyaki and sweets for Mea and Nemesis to eat latter.  
"What's going on?" she asks neutrally, pulling back Mikan with her hair and keeping her a good distance from Momo, "What did you do, Momo-hime?" Momo merely sighs, and goes back to reading her book, uninterested in answering.

"She convinced a child to tag along on a dangerous mission!" Mikan states, yelling and crying out at Momo, "She somehow got Celine to go with Black, Nakajima, and Rito to Mistletoe!" Yami pulls Mikan closer to herself, hugging the younger Yuuki sibling.

"Celine's more than able to take care of herself, she offered to go with Nakajima and make sure the plants kept themselves away from the others," Momo offers up, quite grumpily, "You think I wanted her to go, Mikan?" Momo states, turning back from the couch to face Mikan, who was still encompassed in a hug with Yami and slowly calming down. "I told her Nakajima had it, I said 'he beat up people for me, Celine', that's what I told her," Momo states, "She told me, 'he may be eager, but that won't keep him from making mistakes'." Momo got up, unsteadily and woozy from the painkillers Mikado-sensei had given her, and slowly walked up to Mikan and Yami. "She said: 'He likes you, I can tell he really does, Aunty Momo,'" she mimicked in a falsetto, "'That is why I'm going to protect him, because I know you love him too, even if you can't tell yet...'" Suddenly Mikan let go of Yami, to help a stumbling Momo.

"Oh Momo, I'm sorry, I didn't know," Mikan stated, trying to help Momo from tripping on the carpet, "Celine said all that?" Momo grabs onto Mikan's shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes, before enveloping her in a hug. After a few seconds of shock, Mikan realizes Momo is crying. "It's okay Momo, she'll be okay," Mikan stated, trying to pat her shoulders comfortingly, "She's got Rito, Black, and Zastin watching her back, and Nakajima will keep her safe above all else, she'll be fine, and when she gets back, we'll all be okay!" The sobbing continues.

"No...no, we won't all be okay, because they're going to Mistletoe, chasing after my sister's ghost story," she sobs into Mikan's shoulder, "My practical niece, a girl I helped raise, decided to sneak onto a ship and 'help', and she's barely two years old in that form Mikan!" She almost falls to her knees, but Mikan is slowly lowering her to the carpet already. "I should have stopped her, but I was still in shock; I was desperate Mikan!" Momo cries hard, "I got broken up with, I got beaten up because I wasn't able to focus, I got tortured and dropped onto a school rooftop while I was unconscious... if Rito hadn't saved me I'd be dead and my sister would still be lost to us, somewhere in space..." Mikan feels the anger start to evaporate as Momo keeps speaking. "And I didn't even have the courage to thank him, to tell him 'thank you for risking your life to save my sister'," Momo cries, pulling away from Mikan's shoulder to breathe, "How did she even know... how could Celine even tell, when my heart..." Mikan had let her own waterworks flow, just as upset as Momo was, the anger she had been displacing onto Momo now gone. Now the two girls, who cared very deeply for two different people, were just both very troubled.

 _Lacospo's Spaceship_

Lala was staring out the window of the extravagant suite she had been given by Lacospo. She hadn't thought her ploy would work, but the toad had fallen for it like it was a delicious fly being dangled in front of him. She knew she had to hard sell it to Azenda though, because she knew the female assassin was very dubious of her willingness. She had even tried to get Lacospo to fire on Rito and Momo after she had Lala in her hands, and Lacospo had responded by going to the dark side of Earth's moon, in preparation for the trip home. The natural satellite kept the Lunatique's sensors from scanning their location, and Lala even admitted it was smart to hide in the darkness, like the cockroaches they had become. Azenda hadn't liked that retort, and almost managed to mar her face with a thin dagger, had Lacospo not called his 'wife' off of her.

She had been bored ever since Azenda had tossed her into this room with nothing to keep her occupied, not even a book. They probably believed she could build some kind of key out of the pages and the binding, and manage to trip the doors lock and escape into the ship and take a shuttle out of there. They were smart, because she had devised about six different ways to escape, if she only had that book to utilize even one of them. She would even like a pair of chopsticks at this point, or a packet of salt. The escape plan using the salt packet was probably her most creative one too, so she was sad knowing she wouldn't likely get to use that specific one. She just resolved herself to staring at the stars and searching for any constellations she could familiarize herself with.

There were also trepidation's about whether or not Rito understood her, about reading the letters she had left. She honestly couldn't even believe she had the foresight to write out possible ways her capture and subsequent release could go about, and then just casually mention she had traveled through time. She knew that one would be a bit harder for Rito and the others to swallow, but she also figured Rito was genuinely going to believe her because she hadn't lied to him before. At least not about something as drastic as this regarding her own life. She also knew that the others were going to be quite skeptical about it, but they would realize she wasn't joking about going to Mistletoe, about getting the Ninth Blade fixed before the spirit of Creed Diskenth corrupted Rito.

She honestly had been hoping to retrieve Bladix, and subsequently Creed, before he had been brought together with Rito allowing him to get a grip somewhere in the recesses of Rito's mind. Unfortunately that plan fell to pieces the moment Azenda came into their lives once again, causing Rito and the others pain in the process. She had actually thought she had made too drastic of a change to the timeline, fearing she would lose Rito all together and create a spiral of events she couldn't even begin to predict. Thankfully Rito had pulled through, and she had even noticed he had been made stronger because of it. Now, all she had to do was survive this experience with Azenda and Lacospo, and pray that Rito would save her before the man or his crazed wife decided to do something drastic that resulted in loss of life on either side. She didn't want to marry Lacospo, she didn't want to lose Rito to his darkest impulses, and she didn't want the bleak future she saw to come true.

Looking out at the retreating stars, Lala couldn't help but worry for her beloved Rito, and dread the coming days with Lacospo. Her Father wasn't expecting her decision for a few more weeks, meaning that if she returned to Deviluke with Lacospo, even under the threat of force so as much as she was, she could still stall any wedding plans the frog could have for her. Her Father's space force and orbital weaponry would insure that nothing would happen to her, as long as she remained an obedient political prisoner and out of Azenda's clutches. Honestly, she didn't even understand why Azenda hated her so much, enough to risk injuring any bargaining chip they would have had over her Father and Rito. Maybe it would be something she would have to go over with Azenda, if she could ever get the former assassin queen to open up to her.

Azenda's hatred alone towards Golden Darkness, her own friendship with Yami, that was at least understandable, but not the undercurrent of hostility she seemed to share towards herself and her sister. She knew her father didn't quite care for the insurgents and assassin's that went after his own sphere of influence, her father wasn't unknown to the darker side of politics after all, but he preferred to face his problems head on and with honor, not underhanded tactics. The Galactic Police were more likely to target assassin's, then her own father. Her father hadn't even broached the Talha Galaxies black market quadrant, wherein the Assassins Guild stationed their power base.

"Perhaps it's something my Mother did?" Lala ponders out loud, thinking back to a time when she was small and Momo and Nana weren't even being considered by her father and mother, to stories her mother told her. The sudden knock at the door rattled any good thoughts from her head as the door slid open to reveal the beige headed tyrant at her door.

"We need to talk," Azenda states, crossing her arms and draping herself against the doorway. Lala stared back at her with curious aquamarine eyes, as the assassin queen stares her down with cold eyes and disdain splashed across her features.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm not dead! =D I finally got rid of my writer's block, and plan to finish this story up finally before I move on to another story I have in the works.**

 **I also have a blind poll up on my profile, so please vote for up to three of your favorite choices!**


	32. Family History

**A/N: I do not own To Love Ru.**

Azenda stares down Lala with cold eyes and a look of disdain, sizing up the captured princess in her gilded cage. That was all she was after all, a pretty bird for Lacospo to strut around and become King of the universe with, but never really love. Azenda knew she would never love him, not as a person, and especially not after forcing her into this loveless marriage. Lala was just so full of love towards that human child, one of her many friends who would no doubt be coming after them as they went to legalize Lacospo's marriage to the Devilukean princess. It was sickeningly sweet how predictable her friends were, especially Golden Darkness, and it began to dredge up memories she would rather forget of her youth.

"You and I are going to have some problems, are we not?" Azenda states, uncrossing her arms and entering into Lala's doorway, "Lacospo's marriage to me was one of convenience, there is no love between us besides the love of seeing the ones you care about hurt." Lala becomes stone faced at the mention of Lacospo, giving Azenda a feeling of satisfaction and allowing her a smirk. "You and him, on the other hand, are going to have a very long future ahead of the both of you, if he gets his way," Azenda states leaning against the nearest wall, still smirking, before covering her face with a hand and staring out the side of the gap between the thumb and forefinger, "And I would find so much pleasure in letting such a beautiful girl like you end up with him..." A sudden look of fear comes across Lala's face, one that does not escape Azenda's predatory eyes.

" _N-No_!" Lala stammers out, blushing as she does so, "That t-toad, he won't lay a single finger on me before- before-" Azenda laughs out loud at Lala's attempts at fighting back, causing Lala to stop and glance up in fear of the wicked assassin. Before Lala can make a reply, Azenda has already moved closer to where Lala was sitting on her bed, and has trapped her in a corner blocked by a wall and her own arm.

"Despite whatever you think of me, Lala-hime, this role I play was merely a part of the marriage contract I signed with that stupid man,"Azenda states, leaning in close to a frightened Lala, "This was all revenge and business to me, dear." She licks her lips and stares down at the frightened girl before her, Lala having closed her eyes and begun to whimper as she shrinks into herself. Azenda stares down at her for a few seconds before the memories start to flood back, causing her to yell out in frustration and aim for a nearby bookcase aimed away from Lala. With a deft smack, one of the metal shelves have a newly pressed dent, and Azenda is trying to catch her breath back up to her. Biting her lip with a pointed canine, Azenda turns back to Lala with sullen eyes, as the girl in turn searches her new facial expression.

"Are you alright?" Lala asks curious to Azenda's shift in expression. Azenda finally regains her coherence, and smooths herself over, straightening up and giving Lala the cold stare she had been subject to minutes before.

"Yes," Azenda practically growls out, "Just some bad memories..." She once again approaches Lala, arms drawn behind her this time, until she gently grabs Lala's chin in her hand and forcing her to look her in the eye. "My, my, you do have your mothers wonderful spirit," Azenda states, staring into the aquamarine pools, "You see, she and I still have unfinished business after all these years..."

* * *

 _Some Time Ago_

 _Talha Galactic Cluster_  
 _Temis Sector_

Azenda, apprentice to Norhn, quickly withdrew her blade from her side pocket and palmed it into her hand. Her target was a Fruhle diplomat who had begun to rack up favor and power with others, and a body count to match it. He had came to the attention of the Assassins Guild after he crossed one of the initiates infiltrating his cabinet's inner circle as a less than scrupulous secretarial aide, which ended abruptly with her body being found in a shallow grave outside city limits. Now her job was to remove this man and anyone who tried to get in her way. It was cleaner that way, and would leave a message for anyone who would dare try to cross the Guild again. She quickly veers off and pulls her hood tighter around her face, as a sudden commotion fills the area outside the marketplace, where the diplomat had been trying to negotiate a broker between the Merchants Guild and the sailors traveling the shipping lanes.

"Please, please, can you all calm down!" the bug-eyed diplomat states out loud to the crowd, "I'm sure there can be an agreement; Tigris Industries will relieve all your concerns, of that I have no doubt!" The name catches Azenda off guard, having recognized the famous shipping company that recently began expanding into the space lanes of Talha. What were they doing so far out of the way of major industry? Azenda knew this world was barely Class E, having been exposed to non-terrestrial invaders some centuries ago, ancient slavers that had impacted many civilizations located within the Talha Galaxy. She wondered if this was the reason the initiate had been killed for; by all means this kind of interaction with a less advanced world was illegal throughout the three known galactic clusters.

The so-called Galactic Police had been keeping there eyes on Tigris Industries, ever since they had begun to expand out of their own galaxy and into the Talha and Andromeda clusters. Now she had ample opportunity to not only kill an enemy of the guild, but also get dirt on Tigris Industries that the guild could use to their advantage at a later date. Slipping her weapon back into its pocket, Azenda decided to approach the ruckus and scout out her opportunities. Walking up to the outside of the crowd, her eyes grazed over the crowd and noticed the presence of another suspicious individual doing the same reconnaissance she was. Moving deeper into the crowd, so as t get closer to both her target and the other out of place individual, Azenda got a better look at both of them.

The diplomat was sweating, his arms and shirt pit-stained and hidden by the jacket he wore. It wasn't hot out for most species, very cool and partly cloudy, so it wasn't weather. More than likely that meant he was nervous, either he was holding something back or being coerced into doing this for some reason. It wasn't the body count, the man didn't even look like he could give the order to kill, let alone do it himself, meaning that whoever killed that initiate was in deeper with this man than even the guild acknowledged. Perhaps they held his family hostage to influence his decision, since he was overseeing the contract negotiations between Tigris and this planet. He didn't seem to be focused on anyone in particular in the crowd, though his eyes seemed to stray to the bodyguard at his side. Perhaps not a bodyguard, but rather an enforcer, since he obviously didn't look like one of the blue-furred, bug eyed natives.

The unknown variable that neither looked like the enforcer nor the diplomat, seemed to be watching from among a group of children that gathered around him. Her, Azenda corrected herself, seeing the hair straying from the hood and full face mask that she wore. Pink hair edged its way out of the fringe of the hood, which caught Azenda unaware at the unnatural hair color. Most of the Talha cluster was comprised of blue or yellow dwarfs and the few red giants or the occasional binary system necessary to produce such an odd coloration. Those yellow suns usually led to the darker hair colors of black and gray, or lighter tones of brown and blonde in the general endothermic populace, and an array of skin pigmentation covering the whole spectrum throughout the galaxy.

Azenda narrows her eyes at her newly acquired target, noting everything that was off about her. She seemed to be avoiding crowds, keeping her face obscured, and never looking at the same person twice. If she hadn't known better, she almost would have assumed the young teen to have been a fellow spy, or at least skilled in the art of obscuration. She was deflecting peoples attention away from her by never meeting eye contact, though she seemed to have a purpose in being there that Azenda just couldn't quite figure out. Slipping up behind her and acting casual, she slips the weapon into her, she and quickly grabs the girl from behind, and pulls her into the alleyway between the stalls in the marketplace.

"Don't make a sound, don't even try to break free," she hisses in the girls ear, trying to sound threatening, "You and I both seem to want to avoid drawing attention to ourselves, and I would kindly like to know why?" As she holds the girl at blade tip, she pats down her sides and searches her for a weapon with her free hand. Finding none, she lets the girl get some breathing room by loosening her grip, but keeping it tight enough she could not easily break free. "Who are you?" Azenda demands, "Why are you so nervous to be here?" The girl is biting her lip to keep down her retorts, no doubt, but she finally cracks when Azenda digs the tip of the blade into her back just a little bit.

"Alright, alright, that's enough!" the teen girl cries out, "I'll talk, as long as you let me go." Azenda quickly lets her go, brandishing the knife forward incase she tried anything funny. Her hood had fallen from her head, freeing the tightly restricted waves of hair from the loosely kept bun, as Azenda noticed the girls pink eyes as well. "My name is S-Sephiria M- Arks, Sephiria Arks," the girls says hastily to cover her slip up, "I'm a merchant within a local traders guild near here, we're stopping our caravan here for supplies and repairs." She holds up her hands to show she wasn't hiding anything. "When I heard the local boss was supporting a new guild in this sector, I decided to come check it out-" she hesitates, "-against my fathers wishes, of course." Azenda sees the look of guilt that flashes in the girls eyes, and recognizes the truth of her words as well.

"Tigris Industries, hmmph," Azenda states, "Maybe you and I have something in common after all, girl." That appeared to be the wrong thing to say, as the girl suddenly seemed to become livid at being called 'girl'.

"I'll have you know I'm sixteen cycles old, thank you very much, I'm not some kid!" Sephiria says, positively livid, "And you aren't much older either, sister!" She points a finger into one of Azenda's flat breasts, as if to make a point. Azenda nearly takes her finger for that slight, but holds back and merely sighs in protest.

"Very well, _child_ , we may be the same age, but that doesn't make you more mature than I," Azenda states to the girl, "I no longer consider myself one of those innocent sheep young children are, not after what I endured as a courtesan on Kaled IV." Azenda gains a smirk of satisfaction seeing the strike of horror pass on Sephiria's face. "That, _dear_ , is why you are a child, and I am who I am," Azenda states looking over the woman, noticing her clean white robes without a speck of grime or dirt, and the stunning pink cloak she wore, "You don't even look like you've spent a day planet side." Sephiria merely crosses her arms and grows red in the face, but says nothing in response.

"We could continue arguing until we are out of breath," Sephiria says after calming down, "But we both seem to have interest in the dealings of Tigris Industries; might it not be better to work together and figure out just what they are doing out here?" Azenda crosses her arms and contemplates.

"I know why I am looking towards them; people I have... worked with have disappeared in places where Tigris Industries have popped up," Azenda states to Sephiria, "But why does Tigris Industries threaten a merchant's caravan, why would a little bit of competition in the space lanes threaten you?" As she speaks Sephiria looks as if she is going to talk, an commotion seems to break out at one of the larger crowded areas they had just left.

As soon as Sephiria heard the crowd begin to panic, followed by screams, she quickly covered her face once more with the hood of her cloak. Azenda, too, turned to the excited noises from the crowd, grabbed onto the other girl's arm, and dragged them both to the source of the fray. Keeping her hood pulled tight as well as Sephiria's, Azenda quickly halted at the mouth of the alleyway and surveyed the chaotic scene.

Azenda noted that the diplomat was no longer standing where he once was, now lying in a pool of his own blood, surrounded by a group of people Azenda recognized as the local Galactic Police's medical team, along with one or two of their enforcers. They must have came to this meeting after hearing about Tigris Industries interest here, meaning they were no doubt supposed to be additional security surrounding the diplomatic event. Now their charge was dead, and it wasn't by Azenda's own hand, that was for sure. She did notice a weapon being confiscated, coated with blood and grass, and obviously been the tool that killed the diplomat, and it looked suspiciously like a duplicate of her own. Unfortunately it seemed the killer was still out there, since the enforcers seemed to be searching the crowd for accomplices and suspects. Azenda quickly deemed that the best course of action was to slip away with the girl in this chaos, and figure out exactly where she was needed next and why she had been set up to take the fall. It seemed the girl had the same idea, and Azenda quickly found herself being pulled towards the offworlder slums.

 _Later_

Sephie was doubled over, gasping in breath as she slumped against the nearest retaining wall. They had run for a little over an hour to get where they were, and she was beginning to think this worlds gravity wasn't doing her natural figure any benefit. She must have weighed twenty to thirty more pounds heavier than she normally was on other planets, but she was sure with her perfect metabolism she would come out more stunning and beautiful than when she came her. Such was the curse of having a Charmian sinful beauty, able to go into a horrible situation like espionage and murder, and still come out looking gorgeous. She turned to the beige haired girl, who thought she was more mature than her, but was probably just jealous she didn't have as great of a body as hers. Though Sephie notes she wasn't as out of breath as herself, nor was she feeling safe in the merchants sector, still looking over her shoulder and staring down everyone around them.

"Do- do you have to keep doing that?" Sephie voices, the beige haired girl giving her a sharp look in response, "We left the Galactic Police behind, they didn't even spot us as we ran in that crowd." The girl crosses her arms and goes back to looking around at the aliens traversing their daily lives around the slums. "So you can take a rest and let me take you somewhere safer than out here in the open around all these..." she lowers her voice and grabs the girls arms to drag her closer, "Men." She speaks it like it is poison dripping off her youngest, much to the confusion of the girl, who looks at her like she grew a pair of wings.  
"Are you not afraid that all these people will know where we are, that they could turn us in at any moment?" The girl responds, "Are you so foolish as to ignore the fact that the first place Galactic Police will be looking at, is right here in the heart of the spacers slums?" Sephie smiles at that, and grabs her arm once more, dragging her towards the place where her own people have taken refuge.

"Don't worry about it too much, where we are going, not even the GP can get in," Sephie states, as they pass through the slums and into the area cordoned off by the older guards and automatic shielding, "We'll be safer once we're inside my room, where we can talk freely." Guiding her past the older men and women, past bargainers and suppliers trading and loading goods and supplies, until she reached her lonely little corner of the ship. Only she was allowed back here with the older women, once joined by her Mother and Father before... Before.

Despite the lack of interaction with other children her age, Sephie Michaela Arks grew up to be a fine young woman, at least one she hoped her parents could be proud of. Her natural charm, the divine beauty blessed upon the Charmian race as a whole and passed on as a dying curse, kept her lonely despite being among the older women whose beauty faded but whose own charm never did. Now she had a new friend here, besides the boy she had met not so long ago now, and maybe she could finally make friends with someone who could understand her. If this assassin girl was as frightened and afraid as she was, it meant she would be willing to listen to her at least. She hoped.

The girl was pacing and looking back through the doors, much to Sephie's annoyance, and finally she had enough and went to get a hold of the girl by her shoulder. As quick as she did that, the girl suddenly whirls on her with that knife she had threatened her with earlier, and Sephie found herself squeaking in response. "Why did you bring me here?" the girl asks, "Why do you think the Galactic Police can't just barge in here anytime they feel like it?" Sephie glances down at the knife slowly, then back to the girl. She notices the movement, and then reluctantly and very slowly, removes the knife from her and takes a half-step backwards into a defensive posture.

"My name is Sephie Michaela Arks, I'm one of the last pure blooded females of my species, and we're protected under the self-defense act within galactic law," Sephie states, "Our people have had to defend ourselves from marauding space pirates, restless natives, and even those who would be our protectors at times." She walks over to a section of her room, where a picture of her and her family sits gathering dust on a shelf. "We are vagrants without a home, wanders who have lost loved ones and family to slavers and butchers, and I am the last descendent known in the universe at large," Sephie states, grabbing the "Though we are new to this sector of the Talha Galaxy, perhaps the name of my species has reached even these far stellar banks; tales of the Charmian race spread swift and colorful, like the fires of Magros." Surprisingly the lack of recognition in the assassin's eyes was enough to make Sephie speechless.

"I'm afraid I've never heard of you, but then again the people of this galaxy have only recently begun to realize the universe expands beyond the edge of the galaxy," Azenda states, "My own world is not too unfamiliar to slavers and warlords; my current... situation is due to my family selling me off as a child to a local warlord, who made too many debts to my new 'owners'." Sephie sees the sourness of the memories as they wash over the girls face, and she feels her heart ache in sympathy.

"Your own family sold you as a slave to pay off their debts?" Sephie states quietly, "Were you ever...?" The question hangs in the air, but the look of shock replaced by smoldering anger in the girls eyes, that confirm what Sephie would have asked. "I-I can't believe anyone would ever do that to their own daughter..." Sephie states, but then she looks to the picture in her hands and laughs ironically, "Then again, I can see how that could easily be turned on its head." The other girl merely raises her eyebrow in confusion, before Sephie hands her the picture. "I don't remember too much of my Father or my Mother, I lost them when I was just young enough to begin to appreciate them," Sephie continues, "The older women told me that void pirates, thieves that hunted and raided ships passing between the gaps between galaxies, took many of our young women for their own pleasure harems, and killed some of the remaining crew in an attempt to leave us dead in space to pick off our bones." Azenda studies the picture, and notices the man and woman with the young girl in the picture, seemingly very happy and without a care in the world.

"You wouldn't believe it, but my father foolishly risked his life and the rest of the dying crew, in an attempt to get our people back and steal the supplies we desperately needed to get to the next habitable star system," Sephie says, as she walks to a drawer and opens it, before reaching inside, "For two weeks he searched for any trace of our people or any clue where they could be, until he came across a rogue planetoid, frozen and hurtling through the void between galaxies, and coincidentally the pirates base," she continues, searching through clothes and neatly piling them on the floor to reach her prize, "What the pirates expected to find was a half starved man, a lunatic driven mad by the loss of his relative or lover, desperate to prove himself and die for his foolishness." Smiling at finding her prize, Azenda watched as Sephie retrieved a long object wrapped in many garments, patched and sewn into one large holder, and noticed how gingerly she acted in setting it on the floor to unwrap it.

"What they instead found was a man who had gone to great lengths to find survivors, a warrior devoted to a forgotten way of life to our people, trained from birth to be the defender of those who needed protection from the beastly men who threatened our peaceful way of life, and our self exile," Sephie states as she uncovers a gleaming blade from its cobbled together sheath, much to the interest of Azenda, "This is the weapon that not only saved my mothers life, but the lives of seventeen others, and allowed him to defeat the pirates who had stolen the lives of loved ones from us all." Azenda noted the curvature of the blade, the golden hilt and ruby red gem encrusted into it, the gleaming metal of the blade's body sharp and well polished, given evidence it was well taken care of and cherished. "The First's Cutlass, rumored to be the first weapon ever used against those who bring harm to others; a weapon meant to bring peace to those it was championed for and a symbol of defeat to all those with evil in their hearts," Sephie states, awe in her voice and on her face as she brandishes the cutlass, taking it in her hands and holding it tightly, "My father wielded this blade only twice in his life: the first time with the pirates, and the second when he went against a man who sought to steal my mother and I away to utilize as lab experiments in some great endeavor."

Azenda met Sephie's eyes, and swallowed as she listened to the tale. "A man who went by the moniker of 'Number Zero', stole my mother and myself away while we were supplying on the outer edge of the Andromeda Galaxy, in preparation for the trip between it and the next," Sephie swallows hard and then continues, "He only wanted me, because I was young, moldable for their endeavors, I would have become the perfect pawn for him to utilize; until he unfortunately managed to get a glimpse of my mothers exposed face, having been undone in the 'safety' of her personal quarters." Azenda's knuckles gripped her own weapon hard figuring where this was heading. "He took her, at first using the excuse that 'a mother should be with her child', until it became clear to himself and my mother, what he really wanted from her," Sephie pales a little as she continues to speak, her voice becoming raspy, "She was... violated, in secret in the beginning, then at his whimsy; I was too young then to understand, thankfully, but those first few days haunt my nightmares even now that I know..." She swallows, then replaces the blade onto the folds of cloth. "My father did rescue us, and he even managed to rig the mans ship to explode and take them all down in one fell swoop," she says with a charged awe, "Then we made it to the ship, and he took me inside, set the autopilot up, gave me the sword... and I watched, screaming, as he disconnected the docking port from the other side, with my mother smiling in his arms and both of them crying."

Azenda doesn't want to hear anymore of it, not that Sephie could speak another word. Azenda merely walks over to Sephie and hugs her, a foreign feeling, but not an unwelcome comfort to the Charmian girl. "I- I can not express in words the feelings you must be facing, the courage you posses, Sephie Michaela Arks," Azenda states, "But I can understand some things, better than others; no doubt, if your father was as honorable as you say, he knew what he was sacrificing to keep you safe." She doesn't get a response, but hot tears tell her enough, as she pulls away with a smile. "Let us introduce ourselves again, Sephie Michaela Arks," Azenda states, "My name is Azenda, Apprentice to Norhne, of the Talha Assassin's Guild, an organization that protects its interests from those they deem a threat, takes in those society deems outcasts, and knows the value of honor and family." She looks at the sword, then removes her own dagger from her belt and holds it out to her over her own outstretched palm. Drawing a small line across her hand, fresh blood wells up and Azenda motions for her to do the same, whereupon she places her hand in Sephie's own.

"We are now Blood Sisters, a bond we make between each other in the Guild, stronger than any oath or contract we make," Azenda states, "As such, you and I may request something from each other, and return in kind the day it is asked from the other." Sephie is shocked, surely, and doesn't have the words to express her feelings. Azenda on the other hand looks solemn and pleading as she faces Sephie with a fresh face. "I hate to ask this of you, Sephie, for you have already done much more than that, by bring one who would have killed you were you stood mere hours ago," Azenda states hesitantly, but growing bolder as she is listened to, "But I beg your help, you and this sword, if it is a symbol as you say."

Sephie looks to the blade, then back to Azenda, nodding. "I thank you Azenda for this honor, and I would never leave someone in need who was only doing what they could to survive; for though I may be beautiful, I am ever humble and willing to help, as my father and mother did," Sephie states, "What is it you need help with?" Azenda takes a deep breath, then looks straight into Sephie's unquestioning gaze.

"I believe I have been framed for the first murder I did not commit, which also means the Guild will have disowned my life as forfeit, unless I can bring in proof of the one who framed me," Azenda states, "I believe that Tigris Industries, despite proclaiming to be a force for unification, for change and free trade, is attempting to frame me for the death of a beloved diplomat, in an attempt to get the Galactic Police onto the trail of the Assassin's Guild." She takes a breath and continues. "While talk of your species is unknown to us, the guild has heard rumors of Tigris Industries being one of many companies buying up properties and planets for their resources,supposedly to go to Galactic Police 'war efforts'," Azenda continues, "But in reality only a small force is being shipped out, instead resources are being funneled to other planets, other galaxies, to fund a larger network of terror cells that collectively form a group that has been trying to muscle in on the Talha Crime Worlds." At that Sephie's eyes light up.

"Solgam," Sephie states, and Azenda nods, "Zero had been working for them as well, it was... they were responsible for my mother and I being taken..." With renewed resolve in her eyes, and a fire that seemed to grow inside her, Azenda watched as Sephie took another look at the First Cutlass. A smile growing on her face, Sephie looked up at Azenda with a smile. "Teach me how to use this properly, and I will provide you with protection as we travel the Talha Galaxy," Sephie offers the assassin, "Then, one day when we both are ready, we take down Tigris Industries, prove you didn't kill that man, and take down any chances Solgam has of expanding into Talha." Azenda nods and approves.

"For your parents!" Azenda states, holding out her hand. Sephie looks at it for a moment, before grinnign and returning the handshake and then hugging the beige haired assassin, her new sister.

"For my parents!" she mumbles into Azenda's shoulder. Azenda merely smiles in return, a new feeling edging its way into her mind and heart. 

* * *

Azenda stops staring down the Devilukean princess, and begins to turn around. She stops, and looks over her shoulder to the young girl. "You better prepare yourself, Lala-hime," the Tyrant states, "One day, very soon, you will find yourself in a position to escape... do not hesitate to take advantage of your charms and wit to distract Lacospo, for he is one of the most vile and ruthless men you will ever meet." She begins to turn but stops to throw out one more warning. "He will not take no for an answer, either, so be prepared to defend yourself from his... advances," she states, "May I suggest a swift kick in the testis, nestled within his kidney system?" Lala merely stares as the silver haired assassin leaves behind a platter of food she had not noticed at first. Lala nearly smiles when she sees the spoon left behind, to eat her now cold soup with.

 **A/N: I'm alive!**  
 **Thanks for the positive reviews so far, I'm glad to see people still come here to read my writing! Man, 5,000 views, how time flies. Don't forget to review!**


	33. Silver

**A/N: I do not own To Love Ru. I do, however, own the results to the Poll I have up on my page so go check it out and vote for your top three picks!**

 _Mistletoe_

After retrieving the broken down shuttle from the treetops in the morning light, the group of intrepid explorers made the best use of their time in restocking their food supply needed to accompany their extra guest, Celine. "Do you ever wonder what Momo and the others are doing back home?" Nakajima asks Rito, as they load up Zastin's ship with the supplies they needed to continue their journey. Rito looks up from counting the boxes of edible berries and perishable fruits, before rocking back onto his heels and crossing his arms over his knees. "Hear me out man," Nakajima continues, "Momo and Nana can handle themselves, sure, but what about Mikan, or even Yami?" Kuro exits the ships ramp, hoisting a child-sized Celine on his shoulders, and grimacing at the green haired boy.

"Yami is a living weapon," Kuro comments, "Not only can she take care of herself and the remaining princesses, I'm sure Nemesis and Mea will deter anyone foolish enough to repeat our mistakes." Nakajima merely looks up at the other teen and smiles slyly.

"Ah, yes, how could we forget that not only does Red Headed Mea and Neme-san consider Golden Darkness family," Nakajima starts, "They figured her boyfriend could rough it out here among the wild planets with all us guys..." Celine agrees with this sentiment, as Kuro sputters in disbelief. "Gotcha," Nakajima smiles, as he hoists up a crate Rito finished packing, and brings it into the ship, "Don't worry, we won't tell..." Just as Kuro fingers the holster, he sighs as Celine merely laughs and grips the mans shoulder to ask to get down. Rito merely watches as the gruff teen, really a young adult Rito reminds himself, softens as he deals with Celine and gets dragged around the campsite to help with the boxes.

"Try not to mess with Kuro too much, Nakajima," Rito offers the younger teen as he steps back into the open air, "The guy may look as young as us, but he's quite a bit older than the two of us and he deserves a bit more respect than you've been giving him." Nakajima sticks his tongue out at Rito as the orange haired boy delivers a playful punch at his junior. "Wait until Momo hears about you disrespecting your senior," Rito casually mentions, "She already doesn't like you stalking her; what if you teach poor Celine bad habits..." Rito gets a chuckle out of that as he packs up another box and brings it into the ship, leaving Nakajima staring and sputtering behind him, forgetting his own box in hand.

Rito approaches Kuro and takes in the scene before him. The young former assassin held his arm straight out as Celine swung from his stock still arm, three feet above the ground. Giggling, the plant girl noticed Rito's approach and let go, giving a solid thud as she hit the metal floors and ran over to greet her papa. "Mau!" She states excitedly, "Kuro fun!" The girl smiles brightly back up at the former assassin, who is blushing slightly at the girls praise. Rito smiles as well and picks the little girl up in his arms, ruffling her flower as he does so.

"Be a good girl and help me organize these boxes, okay Celine?" he asks, the plant girl nodding in return, "Good, I'm going to talk with Kuro a bit, but if you grab Nakajima, I'm sure you can get him to start helping you organize them, okay?" The girl nods enthusiastically, as Rito sets her down and she scampers out and off of the ship and towards Nakajima's last position. Rito turns to Kuro, who nods in response as if waiting for Rito to go on. "Is the ship able to get us out of here?" Rito asks the pilot, "I thought we ran out of juice landing?" Kuro nods in response, then brings up the ships power displays on the viewing monitor from the console he was nearest to.

"The shuttle made it out here unscathed, a few scratches here or there in the paint aside, this bucket of bolts could break orbit without any complications," the black haired boy states, patting the consoles and chairs, "This ship had been heavily reinforced to take on the weird properties this planet gives off, but it acts like some giant E.M.P., even the most reinforced stuff gives up after enough time." He switches the screen to a breakdown of the battery's charge, which shows it nearly full to the top. "Thankfully the power couplers are shielded enough to keep bleed off from being too high, it just took a few hours of sunlight and the reserves were refilled, while we perused the jungle looking for our smith," Kuro states, "If we stay here too much longer, though, even the battery's shielding will fail, and we will become dead in the water; stuck here with no way to contact the _Lunatique_." Rito nods, as Kuro goes about adjusting settings and making preparations to leave.

"I'll go figure out how Zastin is doing helping out Mau," Rito states, clapping Kuro on the shoulder, "The sword should be done cooling now, and once it is safe to transport, we can all get out of here and get in contact with everyone back home." Kuro nods as he continues to work on the ship, with Nakajima and Celine finally appearing and carrying boxes. Rito smiles to Celine and gives Nakajima a thumbs up, who nods in appreciation and continues stacking boxes with Celine's help. "Keep it up Nakajima, I'm going to talk to Zastin and Mau," Rito states, before kneeling down to talk to Celine, "And you keep helping him get the last of this in here, okay?" Mau smiles and laughs, patting Rito on the leg as she goes to follow Nakajima back outside.

Rito follows as well, then turns and heads towards the tree and into the tunnels below. As he travels down, he finds the familiar sight of Zastin polishing his armor, among a bunch of other weapons and materials. "Ah, Rito-dono, I am glad to see you coming down here, Mau was looking for you," Zastin states, finishing up the polish on his breastplate, and pointing further down to his workshop, "I believe he was finishing up the design just now..." Rito nods and walks further into the workshop of the plantasian smith. Zastin finishes up the polish on his breast plate and tosses the rag into a pile, when he stops to adjust his hair a bit and admire the reflection of his silver eyes in the mirror. Smiling, Zastin replaces his armor and begins to make his final preparations.

Knocking on the massive door to the master smiths inner sanctuary, Rito waits patiently for the mans wooden joints to adjust. He had been alive for a very long time after all, he wasn't a spring tree anymore, but rather an ancient redwood, towering and tall in his old age. With another knock the door creaks open, and Rito expects Mau to answer, only for the door to continue swinging open and reveal a darkened room. As Rito slowly, hesitantly, walks into the room, he sees Mau sitting in a chair facing away from him. Propped up against the left side of the massive chair, Rito sees the gleaming blade even in the dim light from the hallway, the Ninth Blade. The black spine was dark as pitch, while the blade itself shone blood red along with its gems, a fear inspiring weapon compared to the broken blade he had seen last night. As he picked up the blade, he felt the thrum of the blade as it cut through the air.

"Wow, Mau, you did wonderful work on this!" Rito states, smiling as he places the forged sword into a scabbard he had been given this morning by Kuro, "Did you stay up all night fixing this?" As he looks toward the massive plantasian, he walks a little bit forward to try and get a response from the elder man. Instead of a face full of life, Rito notices his eyes are closed, and his face is pale, which prompts him to try and feel if he had a pulse. Despite being a plant, the man had been exactly like Celine once, though he could sadly no longer feel the thrum of chlorophyll and other vital fluids flowing beneath his weathered and dried skin, thick as bark and as dense as it as well. He also notices the area around his chest was withered and dead looking, though the rest of him looked as healthy as always. "I can't believe that this is natural, but no one besides Zastin has been in here," Rito starts, until he notices something on the floor, "What are you..." He leans down to the floor and brings out his new cutlass, lighting it in dark light by channeling energy through it. The low light wasn't very bright, but the shards of dust and rock were instantly lit up as they soaked in the unnatural light. The remnants of some kind of orb were on the floor, split in two big pieces, and the broken edges from crashing onto the floor from wherever it had been in Mau's hands.

Rito brings his sword closer to the broken pieces, when it suddenly begins to grow tendrils of darkness that grow outwards from the gem in the hilt and grab for the shards. Before he could even react, a hundred small shards were swallowed into the sword, and the red gem began to shine a little bit brighter. He watches as a dim glow begins to burn within the hilt of the blade, before fading to its normal color. A little concerned that not only did a friend die in this room, but Adam may have ate whatever was left of him, Rito Yuuki quickly decided to make the decision to move on and tell his friends the truth once they broke orbit and made their way to the _Lunatique_. Moving toward the door, Rito takes a look back and dispels the darkness from his sword, the unnatural light no longer lighting up the room like some black light. The shadows seem just a little bit darker,a little bit more lifeless and uninviting. Closing the door behind him, Rito has no regrets besides not saying good bye soon enough.

Back onboard the shuttle, the mood shifted with Rito's return, as if a pallor had fallen over the room. It was like the others had recognized Rito's own sullen and forlorn attitude, underneath the cheery mask he had tried to put on for the others. Zastin doesn't say anything, neither does Nakajima or Celine, but Kuro walks up and places a hand on his shoulder. "Did something happen?" he leans in to ask in barely a whisper, "Was Mau..." Rito lets a look of sorrow cross his features, and the gentle hand on his shoulder tightens just a bit. "He was a good man, but he was old Rito, we knew this," he says to offer a little bit of comfort, "If he sacrificed his life to fix your sword, then prepare yourself to use it, to live up to the legacy it deserves to be known for." Rito nods, and puts a happier, if not a little bit sorrowful, smile back onto his face. Zastin then walks up to him and puts a hand on his shoulder as well. Rito smiles and takes all this in stride, but the events of the day have just finally caught up with him, and he tells everyone he is going to nap in the rear hold.

Rito walks into the back of the shuttle, having decided to find a spot on one of the back bunks to sleep off the ride back to the _Lunatique_. He needed to process his feelings and his thoughts, about Mau and his death. The elder plant Plantasian had given up everything to fix his sword, and Rito just couldn't believe he had died after being filled with such life the night before. He couldn't understand it, but then again he had used what was left of ohis power to help Celine save Adam, perhaps he just didn't have enough left to survive the forging process and go on. Putting his hands to his face he holds back the hot tears that threaten to pour out from within, and begins to focus on the matters at hand, namely making sure that he could do what was necessary for Lala. Rito sets the Ninth Sword against the edge of his bed, leaving it in its scabbard, while taking Adam and placing him above his pillow. Muting the lighting Rito closes the door, walking to the bed and slipping under the covers in the darkened room.

As he falls into a deep grief filled slumber, Rito doesn't stir until the morning, not even when his room begins to glow. From its place above his head, the terrible un-light begins to shine from the cutlass' gem. Blackened tendrils seem to pulse outwards from the gems core, crawling outwardly and expanding as if being released from some impossibly compact compartment. Slithering down the headrest and onto the bed, curling and thrashing their way onto the pillow, the tendrils of abyss crawl upwards. The soothing snoring of Rito's lungs during his bodies circadian rhythm was like a signal flare seceding his location to the seething, wriggling mass of un-light, as it searched for sounds and sensations. Crawling, creeping onto Rito's skin, the ebon tendrils drew slack upon contact with the porous epidermis of its singular hosts sensitive cellular extremities.

Satisfied with his word play, Adam quickly directed the tendrils of dark matter back into his uncle's sleeping form, hoping to capitalize on the REM sleep cycle to warn his partner of the horrible truth. Rito had been in grave danger, and he didn't even know it was sitting on the other side of the flimsy door. It didn't exactly help that Adam had been too weak to warn Celine during the transfer with little more than feelings as a medium, and the very lack of energy from Rito without any touch through their symbiotic link, endangered both himself and Rito without regulation of the latter's explosive energy buildup in his cells. He had barely managed to blindly feel the scraps of Tao energy left in the broken husk of Mau's nacreous heart that kept him alive, a very dangerous gamble he could have died from if it hadn't paid off. Now, after a bit of feeding, he hoped to warn Rito of the very threat they had thought dead...

* * *

 _Earlier that Morning_

The gentle, wooden giant hammered away at the softened metals forged in the heat of a star. He had become weathered by age, even underground, as his stiff muscles creaked and groaned under his own weight, while underneath his thick hide he rotted away. It had been so long since he had felt that blade run him through, the literal hole it left behind a constant reminder of how close to death he was, day by day. Age had given him some protective growth as his hair had grown long and thick, vines and moss mending the hole in his heart, thick and arduous as muscle, yet never enough to stand up to that blade or any other weapon if someone chose to truly fight him. The weakest part of his body, the biggest vulnerability he had while protecting the one thing he had come to treasure in life, left within a fragile shell he had been blessed with in his watch. It was a protection of sorts, encasing the fragile remnant of his torn heart, given new life by the pearl of wisdom he had given up so long ago.

As he heaved the cold hammer which shaped the hot metal, the clashing metals struck him in a burst of steam, blowing back the tangled vines and mossy hair to reveal the massive hole long hidden beneath them. Toned abs of flesh turned wooden and thick with age, smooth skin blending into whirling rings and whirls of bark, until it came to the blackened, charred crack that ran from just below his left clavicle, to a jagged end above his obliques. Held together by tendrils of plant matter and muscles, a glowing white sphere was held within the cavity by sheer will. And it was flaking away as each shaping hit took place, reverberating through the wooden body of its shaper. Flecks of iridescent pearl, golden, white, purple, brown, flaked away with each hit as colors were formed and lost. The crack in the pearl-like vessel was growing with each hit, as was Mau's determination. Hair tied back and sweating pouring down him from the heat that would surely kill him, if his heart could hold out long enough. He had a goal, a vision in mind, to fix his Master's greatest mistake and bring him the praise, the knowledge, that this weapon would no longer be the instrument of blood it had become stained with. With one final, echoing crack, the hammer fell to the ground within the forge, as its last flames flickered out. In one deft motion the blade was plunged once more into its final coating of dark matter, and left to cool in and color the blade once more.

Ripping free the bindings in his hair, the wilting flowers dried by the heat tumbled free, as wet vines and soaked hair evaporated their contents in the heat of the dying star. "Amazing, isn't it?" Mau states to his uninvited guest, "A brown dwarf was needed just to contain the fires stoked within it, the heat of which any mortal man would whither and burn like a wilted flower." Amber eyes stared out from the darkness of the shut off halls, morning light just barely giving the hint that the planets sun was rising from the south. Though he could not see the man in the dimness of the room, he could feel the look of a predator gazing at him like some sort of morsel. "Well, are you going to come out, or not?" he yells toward the hidden monster, "If you don't get me first, the work I just did damn well will!" He pulled his swaying hair away from his chest cavity, revealing the once bright and beautiful pearl, dimming and cracking, a large fleck falling from it to reveal the beating, bloody jewel inside. A burning energy within the heart, the Taoist energy flowing through the pearl to replace the long dead organ he had lost to the bloody demon.

As he stared into the darkness, his eyes beginning to fail him, Mau found the morning light filtering into the depths of his workshop. Perhaps the heat of the forge had finally burned a skylight into the roof, after centuries of forging items. Amber eyes became Silver, as ice cold and reflective as the dead eyes Mau had faced once before, long ago. "So, you come to finish the job, eh monster?" Mau states, as he raises a hand for the weapon he had crafted, "You'll find after all these years, I've... gotten...be-" Suddenly the room began to spin wildly around him, and Mau barely had the time to look down to watch his failing heart give out. His mouth felt dry, and he couldn't tell if he or the monster was laughing as he slumped down against the wall, the light in his eyes dimming and draining of life. "Don't t-think they'll give it u-up so eas-ily m-monster," Mau warns, "T-they won't be t-tricked by y-your lies..." The monster merely grew wit the shadows in Mau's failing eyes, a trick of the light perhaps, or the devil in the dark growing stronger, he would never-

He watched the old man last look of defiance on his face, as his heart finally gave out in a burst of light; like a dying ember being snuffed out by the wind. The nacreous heart split in two, finally giving out from the strain of keeping that man alive, and shattering further as the now gray orb rolled to the floor just a little in front of the dead plant. Seeing he was no longer going to gain any amusement from a corpse, his priorities changed to the dying forge, the silver eyes gazing upon the blackened metal sword. It had been so important to him once, but it was too early. He couldn't let them find out just yet, after all he needed transportation off this hostile rock. Grabbing for the sword in the pool dark matter he gripped the handle to lift it out of the noxious material, only to be burned as a result of his actions,which caused him to drop the sword and splash the contents of the barrel onto himself. Looking down at the darkening stain growing on his shiny, silver armor, he knew it just wouldn't do, though other matters became more pressing. Taking off the armor he went to pull the sword out properly this time, before getting to work on the polishing job to make it shine like the void between stars. Then he would clean his chest plate afterwards.

* * *

Rito opened his eyes to the dim light and sounds of a dying star drive. The cold dread he felt in the back of his mind seemed to be unsettling, hinting at something just at the fringes of his sleepy consciousness. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and Rito quickly felt for the familiar hilt, only to find the unfamiliar, new blade instead. Glancing down, he reminds himself the cutlass in his hand was the sword he had been looking for and quickly prepares himself for whatever was on the other side of the door. As he held the sword in an uncomfortable form it was not meant for, he moves to open the door to his room. As it slides open, Rito finds himself staring face to face with the silver breastplate of Zastin's armor. Relaxing at the silver haired warriors presence, Rito put on an easy smile. "Something up, Zastin?" he asks the older man, "Did something come up?" The warrior merely smiles and steps to the side of the door, motioning for Rito to follow.

"Nothing of the sort, Rito-dono, I was asked by Kuro to wake you up," he replies, as Rito grabs a shirt and quickly follows Zastin out into the main body of the shuttle, "It appears the _Lunatique_ is drawing close, and they wanted to make sure you were up and about." Zastin stops for a moment to glance over Rito's side, into the room they just left. Rito almost asks him if there was something wrong, but the loyal bodyguard merely leans in to whisper to Rito. "Do you think it is wise to leave that...blade there?" he asks Rito, "Anyone could just walk in and... steal it,after all, you aren't linked too it anymore, Rito-dono." Rito quirks a brow and smiles at Zastin, then taking a glance back at the now shut door, before returning his attention to the guard.

"I'm quite sure no one is going to take it, Zastin," Rito assures the ever vigilant guard, "I think Kuro likes his weapon too much, and between you and me, Nakajima isn't really a sword kinda guy." The look of unease doesn't leave the silver haired guardians face, but the shadow of doubt is quickly replaced by a neutral mask. "I'll tell you what," Rito says, sighing just a little, "When we get back, I'll let you take the blade off the ship, since its wrapped up tight right now." The perk in his face isn't missed by Rito, by he shakes off the unease once more, and scratches it off as just a very cautious friend wanting to make sure he was safe. At that Zastin motions for Rito to go on, and the orange haired teen allowed himself to take point. As he walked into the main control room, Rito noticed Nakajima playing with Celine and the Dedial, while Kuro was busy manning the controls. Rito notices through the front viewing port, among the backdrop of a sea of stars, the _Lunatique_ was shining brilliantly like a beacon of hope.

"Looks like the AI took care of itself," Kuro states, "I'll be glad to be back on solid ground and have capable weaponry, even with that annoying pest aboard." Rito smiled as he could only nod in response.

"Hey, I resent that!" Nakajima shouting from his place in the back, "I'm not that much of an annoyance!" Kuro only smirked from his seat and swiveled back to face the others.

"I wasn't talking about you kid," Kuro states, smiling as he turns back around, "That annoying AI, as endearing as it is to her adorable owner, grates on my nerves every time I'm around it." Rito chuckles at that, as he watches Zastn move over to the empty co-pilots seat and sitting down.

"How close are we to the ship?" Rito asks, as the ship grows bigger on the viewing port, "I want to get to Deviluke as soon as possible, maybe get King Gid's backing on freeing Lala from Lacospo." Kuro nods, as he and Zastin both turn to the keyboards and begin inputting information.

"It looks like we just made it within contact range, about five or ten minutes before we get everything aligned and transferred inside," Kuro states, "Then we can make the short jump to Zastin's ship, and we'll be to Deviluke within the next couple of hours." Rito nods and looks over to Nakajima and Celine.

"You hear that Celine, we get to find Lala soon!" Rito states to the little girl, who cheers in response, Nakajima laughing as well. Rito smiles as he looks over to Zastin, who seems busy at his console typing away at the screen. "What's the matter Zastin, shouldn't you be more excited about rescuing Lala?" he asks the bodyguard, "Is something the matter-" In a flash of blue light, Rito finds himself disoriented and shifting through the scattering fields of a transporter. Where ever it is he arrives, it is dark and cold, and his body suddenly finds itself hitting the floor in a heap of limbs and pain.

Groaning, Rito looks around as lighting suddenly turns on around him, illuminating the bridge of the _Lunatique_. As he hears the collective groans around him, Rito takes a notice that Kuro, Nakajima, and Celine are all nearby in a heap, with Adam skewered through a half-broken wooden crate, leaking red juice he had first mistaken for blood. The rest of the supplies they had gathered on the planet had been transported to the bridge of some ship, along with the rest of the crew, and Rito slowly realized only one of them was missing. "R-Rito-dono?" the ships AI spoke allowed, as it finally hummed to life out of its suspension cycle, "W-what are you d-doing back?" The vocal tic was familiar, and it only took a second for Rito to realize that they had been transported onto the familiar bridge of the _Lunatique_. "Incoming t-transmizzion!" the AI drones on, as the scary faced static screen was replaced with something more familiar to them all.

"I'm sorry we had to part ways like this, Rito-dono," the silver haired captain of the royal guard announced, "But I'm afraid you would only get in my way, if I allowed you to reach your other ship." His smile grows as he talks, and Rito finds the creeping sensation has spread to the back of his neck, as a sense of dread and unease crosses the whole bridge. "I'm afraid while Adam has joined you onboard, your other weapon will remain here, with me," Zastin states, "I'm quite sure it will become useful to me in the coming future, once I prepare myself, of course." The guard merely smiles as Rito stares back at him, a hint of rage crossing his features.

"Zastin, what has gotten into you, you know how dangerous that blade is in the wrong hands," Rito states, "We need that sword to help us get Lala back, you know that I need it for Adam, its the only way I can face down Lacospo and win Lala back!" The silver haired knight's grin becomes wider and wider as Rito talks, until he breaks out into a fit of laughter, crazed as it was and alien to the stoic knight personality.

"I'm afraid, Rito- _dono_ , that you aren't even worth licking my boot, let alone marrying the future queen of Deviluke," Zastin states, "My host has always known it, you've always acknowledged it yourself Rito; only that stupid girl has had faith in you, and that hateful usurper has only ever tolerated you." Rito chokes on any words that could have come from his mouth, as the pit in his stomach drops further, and the shocking cold reality splashes at him in the face. Rito finally notices the robins-blue eyes of their faithful companion had grown ice cold and steely, literally becoming silvery and reflective as the armor he wore. It seemed Bladix, the former Creed Diskenth, had found a host in his own descendant after all.


	34. A Step Too Far

**A/N: Thanks for continuing on with my story, don't forget to follow my story for updates, and leave reviews, even anonymous ones! Now for the nitty gritty: I do not own To Love-Ru...**

 **Fair warning, possible triggers and uncomfortable situations ahead, but kept T.**

 _Orbit of an Unknown Planet_

Lala stared out of her window at the glowing planet beneath her, the air a dull looking brown, given the fact much of the planet below looked like scorched earth. Pollution and smog seemed to have been pumped into the atmosphere below by the thousands of factories that covered the planet, as dozens of spaceships she could see entering and exit the atmosphere around the ship delivered goods and took them on in turn. More than likely this industrial planet was choked by poison air and regulated by machines that took on raw materials and refined them into finished projects. It was not illegal to mine a planet to this point, but it was very much frowned upon, since planets like these became the host to dependant planets, to the Black Market, and planetary warlords who profited very lucratively off of the pirates and blackhearts who made these places their hideaways. Usually these places became so corrupt and untouchable, not even the Galactic Police would chose to mess with these places, not when one of those unaffiliated tyrants could just as easy fund campaigns against them with a single word.

That was probably exactly why Lacospo chose such a planet to supply his ship, since planets like these had enough pull and support to hold their own against the Deviluke Empire, if only for a little bit before they abandoned the planet like it was a sinking ship. Planets like these were popular during the end of the war, as refugees scattered to other worlds to escape their own dying ones, all in an attempt to keep their family fed and above the rising body count. While Deviluke had united most of the entire known universe, healing those planets they could by reversing the damage to them, some still slipped through the cracks or were too far outside the range of watchful eyes. So it was understandable her heart was sad to see such a planet so close to Deviluke territory, and still inside the Galactic Police's own jurisdiction, despite how large the territory both claimed they protected.

Blowing a stray wisp of hair out of her face, Lala decided moping wasn't going to help her situation at all. Checking to make sure her door was locked, surprised Lacospo had allowed her such a freedom, Lala decided to let go of all the stress she had gained these past couple of days, and the stink that had accrued from her refusal to wear anything Lacospo had provided her. Searching through the closets and drawers of clothes Lacospo had 'provided', she had found them all poor to her taste. They were either extremely lacy, gaudily frilly, too revealing, or too hyper-sexualized in nature to even be considered clothing instead of scraps of cloth tied together by thin strings. Azenda had promised to return from the supply trip with some more suitable clothing for her tastes, as lacking Peke, Lala had very poor taste in feminine clothing outside of Deilukean culture. The assassin queen, meanwhile, had provided her with some fairly basic clothing when Lacospo wasn't looking, including a plain tunic that was like Azenda's own, except less revealing of the midriff save a cut around the lower half of the stomach and bellybutton area. She had also provided a fairly normal skirt that reached to her knees, with a hole cut in and sewn open to accommodate her tail. She had even hooked her up with a plain pair of panties, unlike the sexual monstrosities in her closet, and a wireless, strapless bra that was hopefully meant to cover up what the tunic wouldn't with the midriff cut.

Deciding she had everything she needed, reluctantly deciding to utilize the bra despite her own personal discomfort, but equally hating the alternative with Lacospo around, Lala had her wardrobe neatly folded and ready for use. Now she headed for the bathroom, the adjoining room that Lacospo had put in before her incarceration in this dreadful room, as it had no other door or window save the open space and stars themselves through, a massive viewing port that could be opened from the fairly luxurious bath fixture. Thankfully she would not be needing that at the moment, content with setting her clothes on the nearest empty fixture, before grabbing a towel from a sealed compartment hidden among the smooth walls. Opening the shower doors and adjusting the water temperature until it was just right, Lala felt the rising humidity from the steam. Stripping off her skirt first, then her top, Lala covered her bouncing breasts out of habit more than decency, before slipping out of her undergarments and reflexively obscuring any view with her spade tipped tail. The soaps and shampoos, along with various utensils and other scented products were all non-reactive to each other, though they did cater to a variety of tastes and preferences that surprised her.

Though she doubted Lacospo knew exactly what she wanted, and that Azenda had more than likely just grabbed a few dozen at random per his request, she was quite surprised to find that among the few dozen alien shampoos and scents, there was one that stood out among them. Though not as fancy or expensive as the variety of alien bath salts, conditioners, and scents made up of hundreds, if not thousands of varieties of plants, oils, and scents, its simple shape and color was a comforting familiarity to her. The English lettering spelling out the name was unfamiliar to her, but it smelt exactly like its counterpart she had found in Rito and Mikan's shared bathroom on Earth. It smelled of pears and ginger, and she was ecstatic that it was exactly the brand she thought it was, just bought most likely in another part of the Earth due to the fact that their presence would have been detected anywhere near Lala's own had Zastin been there. Scrubbing at her skin and hair, she lathered her body up with the familiar scent, happy for the first time in a while that some part of earth could still be found out here in space. The warmth of the shower melting away her stress, Lala didn't feel as lonely or forgotten as she could have been, and she almost forgot she wasn't a captive right now.

While she did many things to cleanse her body of the layers of filth that had no doubt accrued on her skin and other places on her body, she was too busy to hear the sound of her exterior door being forcibly unlocked from the outside. She did finish up her inspection of her body, though, and was neatly rearranging the soaps and shampoos to put her new favorite to the front, when she heard the bathroom door whir to life. Turning off the shower, quickly, she opened the shower door and covered what she could without her towel, peeking out of and around the shower door. She screamed at seeing the clothed form of Lacospo through the thinning steam, a too wide smile on his perverted face, pleasure oozing from him as he stared unabashed at her nudity. "Get out of here you- you creep!" Lala screamed, turning to cover herself and adjusting her tail to hide as much as she could while reaching for a towel to cover herself, "Get out you- you pervert!" Blushing and red in the face as she managed to grab her towel and quickly clothe her immodest appearance, she turned to still find Lacospo greedily drinking in the view before him, as the last of the steam dispersed into the colder room through the open door.

"My dear Lala you forget so quickly, we are to be betrothed, you and I," Lacospo smiles perversely, "Encounters like this will become commonplace between you and I." She can only stand in shock and fright at his words, as the small toad walks closer to her bathtub and stares over the clothing she had left on its side. "So bold, did you not like the gifts I gave you?" he asks, as he picks up the strapless bra and pulled it taunt, "Such boring, cumbersome things don't due you any service, my dear, they hide your natural... assets." He smiles at her discomfort, before tossing the item over his shoulder and leaving it discarded on the cold metal floor. "As King, why would I ask you to hide such beauty behind layers of unnecessary fabric, like panties and bras," Lacospo's grin only becomes more and more disconcerting as he speaks, "On my home planet, I assure you, its a disgrace for a husband not to flaunt his property, to incite jealousy in those lower than him, to show dominance and ensure rivals he is their better, that he has power over them in one way... or another." Lala's breathing only heightens as the man grabs the spare panties Azenda had left her, licking his lips as he stares greedily between them and her. "No, no, no, this just won't do between you and I," he states, before tearing into the offending garment and ripping massive holes in specific places, "There, this will fit my needs, much better, indeed, my sweet princess..." Lala swallows and stares at the altered garment, having watched helplessly as Lacospo violated her only gift from Azenda that had been physical.

Lacospo sauntered up to her, and held out the ripped garment to her. "Go, on," he states, "Put it on for me." Lala merely stares at him before whimpering as the small man walks up to her and tears the towel out of her grip. "You are to be my future wife, and I am ordering you to obey me!" he commands, a dark look crossing his face, as Lala falls to her knees in an attempt of refusal, "Now be a good little princess, and put this on." He shoves the undergarments into the hands that are barely covering her chest.

"N-no!" Lala refuses, as she keeps squeezing her eyes shut despite the physical contact the perverted king makes with her, "I-I won't you- you bastard!" Lala opens here eyes as she realized what she has just said, looking up as she sees a shadow of disgust cover over his eyes.

"I see, so I was right to question your claims," Lacospo states as he turns away and walks to the doorway, "I-I am sorry, but this was necessary to test your love for me; it seems I was a fool." Lala doesn't know what to this erratic shift in mood for the toad king, but Lala was happy he was leaving her to her privacy. "Know this, Princess Lala, I will not stand for this farce you've put up to humiliate me," Lacospo states, "When Azenda returns you will be dealt with for pretending to go along with marrying me, for lying to me to let your precious human try and gain your fathers favor." Lacospo takes one last glance over his shoulder to Lala. "When next I met your human lover, know that his fate will be long and drawn out," Lacospo threatens, "I will make you my wife, you will learn to love me, even if I have to kill your friends and family to do it." With that he leaves her alone, to her disquieted thoughts, embarrassment, and shame that runs through her exposed figure, before throwing the torn clothing from her grasp and going to pick up the top and the towel from the floor. She felt anger burning deep inside her for the toad, for embarrassing her like that, but she was confused at his erratic behavior and mood shifts, and wondering just how he knew she hadn't planned on marrying him.

* * *

When Azenda returned to the ship in her shuttle alongside a small freighter, the assassin queen was surprised to see Lacospo waiting for her in the cargo hold's upper levels. The assassin queen leveled her gaze at the small king, whose sour mood seemed to be directed at her. "Is there a problem?" Azenda asks forthright, "We picked up the supplies you requested, including your... acquisition." From the freighter, a large bellow was heard, followed by the buckling of metal as a wall in the small ship buckled against a massive weight. "As distasteful as it was," Azenda states looking back, as crewmen quickly unload her shuttle and evacuate the area to prepare it for Lacospo's newest possession, "The thing is feral and poorly fed, but otherwise able to be transferred to its newest home as soon as possible, though I would suggest feeding the poor thing before it breaks lose and devours the whole crew..." Lacospo doesn't let up form hsi grimace, which puzzles and annoys the assassin. "I did acquire enough protein to feed the thing, since I knew your food stores wouldn't have the necessary meat to feed it until your journey ends," Azenda states, crossing her arms, "Did you know the warlord we acquired this thing from kept it hidden underneath his own palace; he even fed unfortunate victims and his enemies to it through a trapdoor he kept in front of his throne..." Azenda sighs and realizes she wouldn't be helping herself by waiting for him to respond, choosing instead to return to her ship and ensure her own private purchases were delivered to Lala discretely.

"Are you going to deliver more clothes to that harlot?" Lacospo asks, causing Azenda to stiffen up but continue on through her decision, "Very well then, I won't take that as a refusal of your guilt, wife." Azenda almost whirls on the little tyrant, until the doors of the upper section of the cargo hold, were a secondary entrance was, opened with a shout of voices. Lala was loudly complaining as she was dragged through the open doors by two alien guards, causing Azenda to fully turn to Lacopso and wonder just what he was planning to do. "Ah, my future bride, I'm so happy to see you join us down here," Lacospo states as he walks over to the elevator with Azenda, before taking it up to the upper level were Lala stood with two guards hold her roughly from behind, "I believe we are almost ready." Lacospo motions for them to both look over the railing as the last worker down below leaves the area, and a force field is put up around the freighter to isolate it from the rest of the area. As they watch, the back of the freighter lowers fully, and suddenly massive crunching and thumping is heard from the inside of the darkened structure.

A massive, black snout peaks out of the back of the frigate, taking in deep breaths through its nostrils, before a massive growl is heard building from the back of its throat. The massive lizard drags itself out of the cargo freighter, powerful hind legs and miniscule looking hands tipped with razor sharp claws shone in the light. The beast had scaly horns that spiraled back to small yet sharp tips, while between the horns layers of scales heavily covered the back down to the tail, like armor. Similar armored scales covered the elbows and knees of the beast, glittering a shiny silver against the normal, pitch black, scaly skin that covered the remainder of the beasts body. Azenda was in awe of the beast below her, at the power the lithe and deadly predator seemed to radiate with, as its yellowed eyes stared up at them from the floor, having taken notice of her watchers. Lala in contrast, found herself drawn to the protrusions hidden on the back of the beasts body, two little nubs that she realized something had been cut off or removed at some point in time, leaving the two little pieces of flesh and bone behind.

"Isn't she amazing?" Lacospo asks the two ladies, smiling at the beast below, "A melanistic Dorasuke; everything black save the layers of scales it uses as armor, which were bleached white from the sun and the lack of blood flow." The beast roars, and spreads it useless nubs as if trying to fly up to them with non-existent wings. "Its one imperfection is, sadly, its wings, the original owners having cut them off to keep her in her place," Lacospo states, "Normally juvenile females such as this one are accepted by their families as royalty due to their unique color, but even royalty can be usurped and become outcast." Lacospo approaches Lala and grabs her by the elbow, leading her to the edge of the containment field and pointing out over to the drasuke. "You see from what I understand of their biology, she would become alpha female of her pack due to the fact the males of the herd would immediately perceive her to be beautiful, unique, and a symbol of power," Lacospos enthusiastically states, "She would inherit the position of alpha female, and whoever she deemed strongest, would be her mate; males would quite literally throw their lives away to please the females whims and become worthy of mating with her, becoming her King." Lala tries to step aside from Lacospo, attempting to break his grip from her elbow and gain some space between them.

"But you see, Lala, when the males throw their lives away for her, the hierarchy begins to crumble, and changes become obviously necessary to survive," Lacospo states, "It becomes obvious to the other females that a new alpha must be chosen, to establish their dominance and return order to the pack." Just as Azenda is about to make a move to put herself between Lala and Lacospo, for whatever foolish thing he was planning, she suddenly freezes as the doors open to reveal the two guards who had escorted Lala in. She noticed one of them was bulky, and had red skin, while the other was lithe and blue skinned, having some form of armor underneath the guardsmen clothing he wore, but Azenda forced herself to return her attention to Lala's safety. "Usually an older female chooses to step in to teach the juvenile the lesson, after a few nips and butting of heads, the juvenile realizes they are outmatched and become submissive, often leaving the pack with their mate to establish new territory for themselves," Lacospos states, before letting go of Lala and sighing, turning his full body towards her, "Unfortunately there are times when juveniles are too intoxicated with their power, too prideful to realize they aren't strong enough to win, and they retaliate like a rebellious child given too much freedom to realize their life isn't theirs to handle." Lala takes in a sharp breath of air, and even Azenda feels like Lacospo is starting to act weirdly.

"Husband, I do not like this way you are speaking to Lala-hime, she is still Princess of Deviluke, a child yes, but she is not yours yet," Azenda speaks up, "The way you are speaking, I must know, are you trying to threaten her?" Lala seizes and throws a brief look of terror towards Azenda, then back to Lacospo. "When you hired me to take this contract, to become your concubine in exchange for securing your wife, and you in turn legally divorcing me and paying me for my services," Azenda states, as she holds up a blackened ring on her finger, in which a pair poisonous purple and slimy green gems sit, she continues to speak concerned of his words to the princess, "If you are attempting to overtly threaten her, may I remind you that your contract with me insists that I return with you and princess Lala both to Deviluke, to ensure that both your safety and hers were enforced by any means necessary." Lacospo turns to her with a smile, though his eyes flicker to the other two guards who stand nearby, which causes her to give them another side glance, though she finds nothing amiss.

"I see, Azenda you are having feelings for the girl, and here I thought you just gave her those clothes out of pity," Lacospo states, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I'm afraid her modesty, though, is the least of her worries right now, my dear _pet_." He snaps his fingers, and Azenda quickly finds herself with a sword to her throat and an unknown third party at her back. The guards remove their outer clothing, and Azenda realizes them as fellow mercenaries and assassins.

"It's a good thing you bought our services, boss," the red skinned male states, pulling out a duster and placing it on his head, the ugly scar over his left eye betraying his identity to her as a famous famous Milky Way assassin known as the Red Scar. The blue skinned one with the power armor, Azenda realized was Andromedean, meaning he was more than likely the armored assassin, Point-Blank, known for hitting his targets from within point-blank range. Even the assassin who held his weapon at her throat, Azenda recognized as a Kinzel assassin from her own galaxy, one she knew as the Silver Blade, an honorable man who had crossed her path once and paid dearly for it, resulting in his seeking vengeance against her more than once. "Go ahead boss, we'll keep the Tyrant here nice and busy for you," Red Scar states, "Silver Blade here has a bone or two to pick with her, after all." Her eyes glance over calmly at Lala, who appears to be frightened at the sudden change in atmosphere, and of Lacospo's increasingly erratic behavior.

"Now, Lala-hime, I suggest you listen to what I have to say _very_ closely," Lacospo states, as he steps towards her and folds his hands neatly behind his back, "Rito is not coming for you, your Father doesn't even know you are here, and he won't until we arrive at Deviluke to announce our engagement, at my appointment as the next King of Deviluke." Lala swallows as she watches Lacospo carefully. "While I appreciate Azenda here for trying to give you some 'creature comforts', I'm afraid that I don't want a _loud_ , _abrasive_ , _disobedient_ wife, no, not at all," he states to her, steel in his eyes and ice in his voice, "So you will cut off all contact with Rito, with your family, with Azenda, and stay with me until your engagement to _me_ becomes irrevocable, and we live _our_ lives together happily for the rest of my rule, _or_..." Lacospo brushes his fingers over the railing down below, as he peers over at the snapping jaws of the Drasuke female beneath him, sneaking a peak back at Lala with a sly smile. "I would hate for your father to learn of his dear daughters late passing, after a containment breach mistakenly holding, not the gold and treasure I had intended to bequeath Deviluke's treasuries, but a ravenous animal an enemy of the Empire snuck onboard," Lacospo states, his voice dripping with false innocence, "My, my, then I would have to announce our too-soon-to-be engagement, and regret having to tell your father of your blessing my candidacy to take the second in lines hand in marriage in your stead..."

Lala merely stood there, frozen in shock and trying to comprehend just what Lacospo was insinuating. Taking all her options into account, Lala quickly took in her surroundings to cement her decision. Lacospo grinned triumphantly, his two goons smiling greedily as they stood watch near Azenda, while Azenda herself stood stone faced despite the blade to her throat, the third assassin staying just as calm in this situation. The barest hint, a ghost of a memory flashed in her brain, and the decision was laid out before her in a burst of indecisiveness and a gamble. Lala quickly walks up to put her hands on Lacospo's shoulders with a smile, and in return he was happy she had made her choice. Before he could give the signal to his men to stand down, Lala quickly brought her knee up and forced it hard and fast into the toads gut, causing him to gasp in surprise.

Quickly wrapping her hand around his throat and lifting the light man with ease, no longer disguising her strength to the little tyrant, Lala gave the four assassins a calm, leveled look. "I am going to make you all an offer, or your benefactor dies a messy death before paying you," Lala states, holding the unconscious tyrant in her hands, "You are going to let Azenda go, and leave this ship without looking back, and if I ever see any of you again, I will personally send my father's men to hunt you all down." The Red Scar begins to laugh, as does the others, save Azenda. Lala realizes they don't believe her seriousness, and in that moment she lifts Lacospo up and over the railing and holds him there. "If you don't believe I'll do it, I think you'll find while my grip is strong, in all this excitement and nerves, my palms have become _sweaty_ ," she states, as she lets Lacospo drop a little, before grabbing a more firm hold, " _Oops_." At that, even Azenda stood surprised at the girls ruthlessness. Truly Lacopso had messed with the wrong princess, and she hoped he survived this experience, if only to pay her and learn a lesson in humility.


	35. Feelings Returned?

**A/N: I hope you liked the last chapter, because as of today there will be no more... *continued below**

 **I do not own To Love-Ru**

 _Lacospo's Ship_  
 _Cargo Area_

Dangling Lacospo's unconscious body over the edge of the pit, she could hear the Drasuke's snapping jaws of anticipation, waiting for her to drop him into her gaping maw. "Now, as I was saying, let's talk business," Lala announces, "Since I am currently holding your 'boss' over the jaws of a hungry predator, I don't quite think you'll get paid if he dies." As she talks, the Red Scar puts his hands up to placate her, causing Lala to focus on him as he took a half step forward.

"Now princess, while I don't mind talking with you about business, I think it would be safer for you to put him down," the red skinned cowboy mercenary states, "You see, I reckon even if you do let go, you need him to gain access to the ships controls, if he was smart and made sure he had people loyal to him flying this bucket of bolts." He puts his hands down and watches Lala's grip on Lacospo. "You see, us three, we're only loyal to him until he pays us, meaning we do need him alive to get paid," he states, "But, see, he also stated he would only pay us once he became King of the universe and all that." Lala feels her grip on his clothing slipping, and Red Scar takes notice of it. "The way I see it, you don't even want to give him a chance to become King, meaning he wouldn't hold up his end of the bargain since he couldn't pay us," he turns back to point at Silver Blade and Azenda, "Now the Tyrant here, she's worth more than the pittance Lacospo offered us once he became King of the universe, enough for the three of us to split and go our separate ways, far, far away from you and your empire, princess." Lala blinks, confused at what the an was asking of her, before she fully understood what he was telling her, and Azenda watched as a flicker of uncertainty flashed across the girls face.

"I'm sorry, really, thank you for the offer, but I'm going to have to ask for you all to let Azenda go," Lala states, "While Lacopso may have the loyalty of his crew, Azenda has equal right to direct this ship, and she's really doesn't seem to like Locaspo anymore than I do." She brings Lacospo closer to her, balancing his dangling feet over the railing to readjust her grip. ""I'll even make you all a deal, if you're up for it," Lala states, felling a little generous, "I won't hunt you guys down, I'll even compensate you for whatever it is Lacospo is paying you if you let her go now, since I'm fairly certain Azenda is plotting a way to kill you three as we speak." Red Scar and Point-Blank meet each others eyes, before Point-Blank nods, causing Red Scar to sigh in response and close his eyes.

"You know what princess, I think we'll have to pass," the Red Scar states, opening his eyes back up and staring at the Princess with a grim look, "See, since you don't want to become his queen, and you don't want to give us Azenda, I don't think any of us really have a choice in the matter." He begins to take the gun on his back off, as Lala holds Lacospo back over the open air of the cargo bay. "Now, that ain't gonna fly anymore darlin', not now that we know you don't have any other options available," Red Scar states, "See, we'd rather see Lacospo dead and have Azenda's head, then walk out of this deal, have you back out on us and turn us into G.P.D., so sweetie, we ain't going to let this slide." Raising his gun to aim it at Lala, the Red Scar goes to pull the trigger. In a flash of light and sound of steel clashing, the Red Scar blink as as his gun is cleaved in two, his barrel falling to the ground as the battery pack smokes and sizzles from the exposed remains.

"I'm afraid you boys made the wrong choice," Azenda states, deadly serious as she speaks from behind the two other assassins, "Too bad you didn't think your plan of attack out properly and let your close combat fighter remain within my reach." Red Scar and Point-Blank both look back at the Silver Blade, whose blank eyes and fierce stance, show that he is completely under Azenda's sway. Point-Blank goes to move his fist and force an explosion of energy through his hands, when he stops feeling the point of a sword at his rib cage. In moments Azenda has already retrieved her whip, circling around the mans legs, causing him to trip as Azenda makes the Silver Blade hit him in the back of his head, effectively rendering him unconscious. The Red Scar goes to turn and run from the fight, and makes a getaway of two feet, before Lala's fist meets his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and sending him sprawling to the floor in his own momentum and sudden loss of balance. Lala stands up and cracks her knuckles, ready to brawl with the Silver Blade. "Please Relax Lala-hime, the Silver Blade is currently under my control, and he will do only what I tell him," Azenda states, crossing her arms before gesturing to both Red Scar and Point-Blank, "I believe I will have him strip those two of their weapons, then we can choose what to do with the three of them."

Azenda walks over to the unconscious Lacopso and picks him up by the scruff of his collar. "And you, dear husband, I shall deal with you personally," Azenda states, smiling wickedly at him, before stopping to focus back on Lala, "Uness you of course, require recompense for his actions while I was away?" Lala hesitantly at the tall woman, blinking bashfully as the assassin offers her the toad king, practically on a silver platter. At Lala's hesitance Azenda realizes the girl doesn't know how to respond, so she sighs and merely sets the small king back slumping onto the floor. "Fine, I see you don't really have it in your heart to hurt him, he is a jerk for threatening you though," Azenda states, rubbing her forehead and sighing, "Very well, I will have the Silver Blade lock Lacospo up for the time being, while you and I talk about what we, both, now wish to do." Azenda grabs Lala gently by the arm, and begins to lead her out into the rest of the ship. "Meanwhile, lets stop by my room first, before we get to talking," Azenda states, overlooking the slightly crumpled and dirty clothes Lala had worn after being dragged into the cargo bay, "I believe a change in wardrobe was requested, after all!"

"Tell me why you betrayed Lacospo like that, and why do it to save me?" Lala asks from the bathroom, where she is checking her new outfit in the large, full body mirror, "I know you didn't want those assassins to catch you, but you certainly didn't have to defend me in front of Lacospo." Azenda is sitting on her own bed, a massive circular thing that takes up half the room, besides the large closet full of clothes and shoes, and the open window looking out into the stars. "How could you stand Lacospo belittling and ignoring you, even though he called you his wife," Lala asks, "Especially since he was calling me his 'future bride'; why did he seem to dislike you so much?" Azenda watches as Lala exits the bathroom in something much more fitting of her status, while still informal. Lala wore a formal Devilukean dress Azenda had trade off a few of her weapons for to acquire, though the outfit suited her nicely.

The dress was sharp in design, the bodice a pale beige from the neck down, to just below her bust, the dress gaining a layer of flared, purple material that reached down just past her thighs. The remainder of the dress on the inside of the material, while unseen, was of the same color as the bodice and reached just past her thighs to hide everything else that was unnecessary to show. The choker that came wit the dress was quite unique, as it was a separate piece all together that had a unique function, and that was to add sleeves to the dress, covering the neckline of the actual dress to give the illusion it was all one piece. It was colored purple like the rest of the fabric that flared out, though it did not cover her shoulders, rather it ran from the choker down to her biceps in thin strips of cloth, before fully encompassing her hands in sleeves that reached all the way down to her wrists, before ending in bells of fabric that covered her hands, yet left her fingers exposed.

Lala admired the dress fully, lifting it up to see the layers, and accidentally exposing her new, purple panties with black lace trim, which causes her to quickly cover herself back up with a blush. Azenda laughs at the girls unusual modesty, but she takes it serious when Lala covers her face up in embarrassment. "Don't tell me he did something while I was gone!" Azenda states, growling as she tightens her nails into her palm, "He may be foolish, but to try something before he is even married to you, while he is still married to me; he knows better than to try something foolish like that..." Lala peeks out from between her fingers at the elder assassin, curious to her words.

"I don't understand, why would that be a problem?" she asks the assassin, "It fits exactly with my past encounters with Lacospo, as unpleasant as they were, he was always one to try and cross boundaries." Azenda nods, as Lala removes her hands and begins to relax. "He- he had walked in on my as I was getting out of the shower, even though I had locked the doors," Lala states sheepishly, and Azenda's eye begins to twitch, "He- he saw the clothes you gave me, he realized I wasn't really in love with him, somehow, and blew up on me before apologizing and stating it was all some kind of 'test' that proved he was right." Azenda clenches her hand a little bit, and absently brushes her fingers against the ring on her hand. "He calls me his 'future wife', but if he always planned on divorcing you, why marry you in the first place?" Lala asks, "Why even 'test' me if he knew I wasn't going to love him; I haven't been exactly subtle about it, yet he threatens he'll get me to love him." Azenda sighs and brings up the ring on her left hand, bring her hand up and facing it out for Lala to see it clearly. It had a black band with a slimy green gem set next to a poisonous purple gem, creating a look that gave the impression it was a fusion of both colors.

"This ring is very important to Lacospo, because it is the one stipulation his parents gave to him, following his failed attempts at courting you before," Azenda states, as Lala observes both gems, "This smart-ring is two-of-a-kind, it and its partner hold one half of the information to a bank account containing the sum total of Lacospo's inheritance, the literal worth of his family's entire fortune contained within two nanochips sealed in artificial smart-diamonds, set within two separate, evolving soul-bands." She closes her fist and the smart-diamonds shine in the light. "The smart-diamonds were artificially made to react to the soul-bands, changing color to reflect a persons inner nature, they also contain half of the key needed to access Lacospo's fortune," Azenda states, "The soul-bands are a unique quasi-spiritual technology created by cutting edge scientists, they represent a persons true love: they remain black if there is no love between either recipient, if one truly loves the other, but not in reverse, one half of the entwined bands become gold while the other remains black, and if both bands become gold, the wearers are as good as destined to become one." She smiles, admiring the onyx black ring and the two gems. "As you can see, there is no love between either myself, or Lacospo, as ours is a marriage of convenience, rather than one of love," Azenda states ruefully, looking up and staring Lala in the eyes, "To Lacospo, while I am his first wife, I am worth no more than a concubine to him, a way for him to access the money he believes is owed to him, and is using to fund this endeavor all for naught."

Lala's eyes widen as she looks at Azenda, baring her feelings openly to the Devilukean Princess, something she had never even considered before. "Why not just divorce him, then?" Lala asks, as she takes a seat on the bed next to the assassin, "It would be rather simple, wouldn't it, just to remove the ring and end the marriage?" Azenda laughs scornfully, as she nods and stands up to put her hand against the glass wall separating the vacuum and the ship.

"If only it was that simple, princess; I'm afraid the consequences are much more deadlier than that a simple annulment," Azenda states, staring out into the void of stars, "If I were to remove the band as it is, without even getting an annulment, the ring's smart-diamonds would log the attempt and self-destruct the only access codes Lacospo has available to him." Lala gasps at that, covering her mouth to stifle herself. "That isn't even the worst part, as it would not only destroy the code, but take the users very hand in the resulting micro-explosion," Azenda states, smiling ruefully back at the princess, "And don't even get me started on the ridiculous conditions that resulted from just becoming engaged..." Lala nods, as Azenda returns to her seat and falls backwards onto her master bed. "During the courting phase, the ring is inactive until placed on someone's hand, whereupon it activates a singular self-defensive protocol that prevents the wearer from getting 'cold feet'," Azenda states, as she moves her hand up to block the light from coming down on her face, "It had a distance limiter of five meters, meaning if you walked outside of the designated sphere of influence between both rings, you could potentially activate the self-destruct function if you didn't remedy the situation in twenty seconds or less." Lala's eyes were wide at that, while Azenda merely laughed at the memories.

"As strange as it sounds, why would his parents go to such great lengths to buy such a pricey, expensive, and potentially lethal symbol of marriage?" Lala asks, "It obviously wouldn't be good if you were married all that time and be unable to remove the ring,not without potential health risks developing from constantly being forced to wear it." Azenda laughs and nods, as she sits up straight and flexes her fingers.

"That's exactly why they chose soul-bands, since they only react when people are compatible," Azenda states, "The metal isn't fully matured until it finds two compatible hosts, allowing the rings to be freely used as long as a new recipient is available to partake of the burden, as even after becoming divorced the ring of the ex-partner would self destruct and render both rings inert." Azenda sighs, and Lala stares at the ring more closely, taking Azenda's hand gingerly in her own to thumb the jewel and band. "They didn't want their son to be some kind of womanizer, I guess, which in a way is quite noble of them," Azenda states, "Unfortunately their son is little more than a creep and a pervert, socially and emotionally inept from years of isolation on a planet that, in some parts, value women very little despite galactic social standards at large." Lala nods, but the gears in her head are already turning despite herself. "If either he or I truly loved each other, the metals in the bands would fully coalesce into their true form, deactivating the self-destruct protocol in the process, allowing either of us to freely remove the ring without loss of life and limb, or access to the data within both rings," Azenda states, "Since both rings would have fully matured, they would be genetically bio-locked to their user and their bond of true love, ensuring only the wearer they were bonded too could access the information stored within, without anymore hoops to jump through." Lala turned to Azenda and grasped both of her hands, a serious look falling across her face as she makes her decision.

"Azenda, what would happen if I was to get married to Lacospo, and it didn't turn golden like he wants?" Lala asks, "Even if we were legally married, would there be anyway to keep Lacospo from inheriting my family's empire?" Azenda blinks in astonishment at what Lala was suggesting, but she softly breaks her hands away from Lala to think. Stroking her chin as she wracks her brain, Azenda feels the spark of an idea forming.

"Perhaps... there might indeed be something that could be done, potentially," Azenda states, "Since love, or rather compatibility, is not usually considered in traditional marriages such as the one you find yourself in, there is till the legality of Lacospo's right of candidacy on his side of things." She snaps her fingers and smiles at Lala, as the Devilukeans brilliant deduction becomes clear to her. "Yes, I believe you could get Lacospo's family involved, since it is their stipulation that he marry someone who he not only truly loves, but who truly loves him in return, you could easily get them on your side, if you were dispute Lacospo as a marriage candidate," Azenda states, "Since the situation surrounding your prompt and unusual engagement would come into question, Lacospo's legitimacy to claim to be your candidate for marriage after he is found to have forced you to come here by threat, even hurting your preferred candidate Rito, you would be easily able to remove Lacospo and annul the marriage then and there, hypothetically speaking." Lala nods, concern flashing across her face as she realizes the potential hiccups.

"But Lacospo would need someone else to give the ring to, someone he could marry," Lala states, scratching her chin, "We couldn't hire someone, I don't think it would legally hold up, but perhaps you could...?" Azenda shakes her head in response to Lala's unasked question.

"Unfortunately divorce nullifies any claim to the rings a second time, remarrying Lacospo is out of the question," Azenda states, before tapping her chin thoughtfully, "Though we may have another course of action, if we were able to maneuver things into place in time..." She counts a few fingers off of her hand, before smiling at Lala. "It wouldn't be hard, not if I was to make contact with your mother before hand to arrange things out of Lacoso's watch," Azenda states, "Yes, I do believe we may have the beginnings of a plan... but you understand what this means Lala?" Lala gulps and nods, somberly smiling at Azenda.

* * *

Lacospo stirs awake in his bed, feeling a pounding in his head and gut. Slowly he crawls out from under the covers of his bed and he rises to his feet in the darkened room. Feeling woozy and unsteady, he sits on the edge of his bed and finds himself wearing a robe he doesn't remember putting on. Searching his memory for what happened to make him end up being in this position, he begins to slowly remember the transmission he had received from... Suddenly Lacospo shoots up, now fully awake and remembering Lala's attack in the cargo bay. Looking around for proper clothes to put on, Lacospo finds himself marching out the door of his room and towards the cargo bay. Adjusting his crown as he went, Lacospo found himself inside the empty cargo bay with the only the broken shuttle as evidence that a killer beast was once held below it, the beast nowhere in sight. Deciding to make his way to the bridge next, Lacospo intended to send his men out to find out just what was going on, and demand them to find Lala and Azenda and place them in proper cells.

"What is going on?" Lacospo demands as he walks into the bridge, "What is our current heading?" Before he even lets them speak, he whirls on a crewman he knows controls the security inside of his ship, including all its cameras. "Where is Azenda and Princess Lala?" Lacospo asks, "Where are my mercenaries?" As he begins to rant and rave, the doors to the bridge open, and Azenda walks onto the bridge, followed by Lala, and flanked by the three assassin's that had been hired by Lacospo.

"Ah, dear husband, you've finally awoken I see, you did receive a nasty shock to your system after all," Azenda states, as she smiles towards Lacospo, "You'll find out heading and course haven't changed, though there have been some recent... compromises that have been reached between the rest of your crew, myself, and Lala." She crosses her arms as the stout prince king approaches his traitorous wife to confront her, but she merely shushes him and pats him on the head. "I'm afraid that if you wish to cry and whine, that you should think twice, dear husband," Azenda states, smirking from her position, "I believe Princess Lala was coming to apologize to you, husband, though in my opinion it is you who should be apologizing for crossing the line." Lacospo is about to retort, but bites his tongue in response, merely turning to face Lala with a hardened glare.

"Thank you, Azenda, and while you are right in some aspects, as a... visiting dignitary, I believe it was improper of me to respond so... violently," Lala states, "Though I am sure in my situation, you would forgive me for my response to your... insinuations toward my former marriage candidate." The wording wasn't lost on Lacospo, who gained a confused expression at the phrasing. "As long as you are willing to work with three stipulations I have drafted up in a contract with Azenda's help, and with full understanding and the cooperation of your crew, I will allow you to attempt courting me," Lala says, smiling as she swallows, Lacospo biting down on his tongue to try and listen to her requests, "They are as follows: You will allow me free access of your ship and its crew, with no repercussions to my family or other potential marriage candidates." Lacospo clenches his fists at that, but swallows and nods for her to continue. "Secondly, upon our arrival to Deviluke, you will turn over the Drasuke you have acquired to the Deviluke Royal Zoo, for proper medical care for the mistreatment she received while under the care of the ones who took her from her home," Lala states, to which Lacospo nods, "And lastly, as the marriage is going to be held on Deviluke with the whole universe facing change as a result, I require that you treat me respectably for who I am, and that your parents as well as those who I choose, may attend the marriage ceremony no matter who they are." At that Lacospo nearly blows up from his impatience.

"There will be no such deal!" he yells angrily, "I understand your first point perfectly clear, no how much I despise it, I don't even mind turning over that hideous beast, but to treat you as my equal?" He stomps his foot in annoyance and turns away from Lala in a huff. "While you may be Princess of Deviluke, heir to a ruling class, by the laws of my planet I amnot required to grant you any equal standing to make decisions that are not yours to make!" Just as he is about to demand her leave his presence, he feels a sharp blade pick him up by the scruff of his shirt. He is about to flail about, when he notices the disgraced samurai glare at him and twist the blade a little bit more into his fabric, allowing him to feel the piercing tip uncomfortably close to his skin. Laughing it off a bit, with a little bit of sweat, the mercenary turns Lacospo around and stands a fair distance behind him, forcing him to look to Lala and the others. Lala puts her hands on he hips and puffs out her cheeks at the toad prince.

"It will be required that if there is any fault found before or after the marriage ceremony, as a result of your planet's own laws and stipulations your parents are holding up to you, that I am allowed to annul the marriage before your parents and my father," Lala states, a little bit of annoyance in her voice, "Also within those same laws until consummation between man and wife is conducted, I am allowed to be treated with respect by my mate, who in this case would be you." Lacospo begins to grumble, but nods in response. "Due to the nature of the bonding you are wishing to partake in, another set of stipulations must be met to fully annul our marriage, and I wished to inform you of them," Lala states, "If either of us wishes to annul our marriage, one of us must give up our ring to one chosen beforehand to accept it as intermediary concubine, or if a willing participant who either of us truly love is available, the other must forsake their ring and vows to enable the other to complete the marriage contract to their true love." Lacospo is about to snap, when Azenda steps up and flicks him on the forehead.

"Remember, dearest, it is you parent's wishes that you find someone you truly love, and will truly love you in return," Azenda states, "They would rather you give up your fortune and live a life of poverty, viewing the sacrifice as a wedding gift for the new King and Queen of Deviluke, than let a greedy son inherit a fortune, yet live a loveless life." Azenda smiles as Lacospo shuts his mouth, grinding his teeth together while he formulates a response.

"Very well, I accept your terms, Princess Lala, and upon our arrival at Deviluke I would hope you hold up on your end of the bargain," Lacospo states, spiting the words out much to the surprise of everyone in the room, "But, in return, you must actually be involved with me, despite my mistaken outburst earlier, I believe if you actually give me a chance, I could truly woo you to my side..." Azenda covers her hand with he mouth, trying to contain her laughter, but when she looks over to see Lala actually contemplating it, she holds in her breath.

"Very well then, we have a deal," Lala states, shaking Lacospo's hand, "I believe we have less than a week from Deviluke to get to know each other, so how about we start tomorrow with lunch, and maybe in the evening we have a chance to learn about each other properly, once all of this settles down?" Lacospo nods, much to the shock of everyone in the room, before Lala leaves with Azenda in toe.

Lacospo watches her leave for a few moments, before turning back to his men and staring them all down. "Well, what are you all gawking at?" he practically shouts, "Get back to work; I'll be in my room if you need to consult me." Walking into his room, which wasn't far at all, Lacospo gets on to his personal computer terminal and begins to make the necessary connections through a variety of contacts and satellites. When a familiar mop of silver lands on the open communications channel, Lacospo smiles at the man on the other end.

"Well, was it as I said?" the man asks, annoyance clearly in his voice, "Did you find out if Lala was truly involved in your one-sided marriage proposal?" Lacospo chuckles a bit at the man, who merely raises an eyebrow in return.

"She wasn't, not when I confronted her about it, but now taking it all in after the fact, I realized that was exactly what you wanted me to do, wasn't it?" the lack of response or recognition is all Lacospo needs to realize he was right, "Maybe she isn't in love with me now, sure, but she has accepted my proposal now, and despite some setbacks, I believe I can work this out in time for you and I both to get what we want." The man smiles from behind the screen, though Lacospo gets an uneasy feeling from it.

"Good, while I have what I currently need to get by, accessing the black archives for the information I need is paramount, Toad," the mysterious man states, "Without proper reinforcements and backup, you truly couldn't lead the Devilukean armies, you wouldn't be prepared to unite the remainder of the universe like I have planned..." He smiles, his silver eyes glinting in the lighting of his ship. "Soon you will have Lala, and the power you deserve, and I will have the means to bring about true peace and unity to the galaxy," the man states, "Under your banner of course... Lacospo-dono." Lacospo grins and nods, before the other man cuts off the feed from his end, and Lacospo's grin turns sour.

"Whatever you say, Zastin, whatever you say," Lacospo states, "I'm just glad you know exactly who to put your support behind." Lacospo leans back in his chair and looks through the nearest window and the stars beyond it. "As long as I get the kingdom and the girl, I have my fortune and a bright future ahead of me," he states, smiling, "I swear, princess, you will love me..."

 ***Continued from above: ...No more chances to enter the poll, that is, since I'm going to close it after today, 10/18.**

 **To my Guest Reviewer, I thank you for reviewing, I'm glad someone still is reading my work since I thought everyone left!**

 **Edit: I'm not ending the story, rather the Poll I set up is now finished, sorry for any confusion about my wording above!**


	36. Green Haired Monster

**A/N: No, this story is not ending! For those who did not get the joke, I was dramatically informing people that I was ending my poll. As that was a three way tie, I'm informing you that after I finish with the main plot, I will be attempting to write separate one-shots after an epilogue. But as we aren't anywhere near the end yet...**

 **I do not own To Love-Ru**

 _Lala's Room_

"You look as green as a Centauri Eel, are you sure you are okay princess?" Azenda asks out of concern, "Are you certain you can go through with your plans with Lacospo?" Lala nods, much to Azenda's disbelief.

"I am just finally settling my nerves; with all those people watching I felt as if I was going to positively puke the contents of my already empty stomach onto the floor," Lala responds, covering her face with a pillow and resisting the urge to scream into it, "At least Lacospo has agreed to my demands, as shaky as the are legally speaking." Azenda nods and can only sit next to the girl as she gives her pillow a full body hug.

"Everything isn't lost yet Lala-hime, your friends, especially Rito, would not have given up on saving you," Azenda states, clutching her hand and squeezing it reassuringly, "As silly and uncoordinated as that boy Rito is, he's lucky enough to have you for a girlfriend; and he has one up on Lacospo anyway." Lala raises her eyebrow at that, with which Azenda returns with a coy smile. "Lacospo thinks he has the legendary Cutlass of the First Weapon of Chronos, something your mother's people had been entrusted with carrying as their only source of protection all these centuries," Azenda states, "Unfortunately for him, it is little more than a carbon-fiber, nano-weave replica that I had created from my memory of the real item, so if he ever came clashing blow for blow, I think Rito-dono would be the victor there; expert craftsmanship aside." Lala nods and crosses her legs, sitting up to face Azenda directly.

"I know you and my mother were close in the past, but how did the both of you end up..." Lala looks to Azenda, who grimaces slightly and closes her eyes in the process, "I mean, if it isn't too personal of a story, I don't want to intrude." Azenda sighs, and Lala quickly begins to regret her asking. "I'm sorry for bringing it up, it's just all of this with Lacospo, and I just really don't want to think about it all right now," Lala babbles on as Azenda watches, "I'm sorry, you don't have to bring it up, I'm sure we can talk about something... mmpphhh." Azenda smiles as she covers Lala's mouth with her hand, chuckling a little at the nervous girl.

"Very well, how do I explain our falling out, hmm?" Azenda starts, "It was a year or two later, after training your mother everyday for a year and a half of sword fighting and defense, I think, that we came across some shady underworld pirates that were having a bit of bad luck trying to raid a nearby mining colony..."

-=O^o^O^o^O=-

 _Calypsi VI_

Azenda and Sephie both are wandering through the traders market as one of the planet's three suns were going down, signaling the beginning of the twilight hours leading to dusk and then the freezing night of the ice planet. Sephie had First at her hip, while maintaining the shawl she wore around her face to obscure her sinful beauty, Azenda otherwise continued to wear her normal attire of cloak clothing she had picked up in her journey with the Charmian caravan, a mix of clothes from across the Talha Galaxy that exposed her forming bust and midriff, leaving very little to the imagination. It worked in her benefit more than once leaving her developing assets exposed as they were, since it was too dangerous for anyone to take notice of Sephie for too long, Azenda played up her sex appeal to steal away their gaze to herself. Now was one such time she would be probably needing it, walking into the trading districts nearest watering hole, a slimy and grungy looking hole in the wall that was no doubt a haven of information they needed to renew their search.

Things had gone dry for the past couple of months, leads on Azenda's frame job lost near the very beginning of their inquiry, but the trail Tigris Industries had been wide and far reaching everywhere they went, before drying up around a binary star system a few weeks back. Tigris Industries had been said to have stopped their expansion efforts after something was found in a nearby system in this section of the galaxy they found themselves in, when all talk suddenly stopped as if they had ceased operation entirely. Hopefully a system as close to their target planet as possible would hold some blackheart scoundrel who would give up some new information, for a few copper pieces, anything to figure out just what it was that had made Tigris Industries go dark. And as Azenda walked into the rowdy bar, she spotted a particularly handsome looking specimen of a man in the corner, being swooned over by a pair of well endowed looking women.

"And -hic- that was when the Captain told me, he told me to abandon ship," the green skinned alien stated, puffing out the red patches of his skin, "But I said, I said, 'Cap'n, why should you be the only one to go down with the ship', and b'efore I knew it, he was tossing me in an escape -hic- an escape pod." The women cooed at his story, as he looked somberly down at his drink and snaked an arm from behind a girls back over his chest. "I swore if I survived to the next port, I would drink in his name!" he cheers, as Azenda motions for Sephie to follow her over to his table, "Too bad I don't drin- -hic- drink the hard stuff.. Waiter! Another round for the beautiful women!" Giggling the girls pull away from him, and he slumps to the table as Azenda and Sephie approach him.

"Get up fool, I recognize your species," Azenda commands, as she walks over to the man and slides into the seat next to him, Sephie choosing to sit at the opposite side of the booth, "I know your not drunk, and I doubt you told the truth, so let me ask you a question coward." The alien looks up from his arms and peeks up at the beautiful, exposed lower half of Azenda's stomach, sitting up straight at the sight.

"My, my, what beautiful... assets, have you ever thought of settling down?" he asks smoothly, wiggling his eyes at Azenda, "You look like you'd have a bountiful pair of..." Before he could finish the sentence, Azenda rolls her eyes and quickly brings out her knife, slamming it on the table between the mans fingers. "Oh, bree!" the man yells, his eyes widening in shock as the sharp edge digs just barely into the skin between his fingers, "What the fracking comets of Seleezium Seven, woman!" Azenda raises an eyebrow at his comment, before sighing and grabbing a hold of the hilt of her dagger.

"I very well know that this isn't your true form, Balkean, but I won't tell those floozy trollops that, if you answer me a few questions, pirate," she states, whispering it into his ear, "I can tell you recognize this blade, correct?" He nods as he gives it a glance. "Good, then you know that who I work for is very important in this part of the galaxy, and they're wanting to know all they can about a certain company that has been making moves on their turf," she states with practiced ease, despite it being a bluff, "Assuming you know a lot of the goings on around here, we picked up chatter that Tigris Industries hit some big score in this area, and figured some sleazy lowlife like you ought to know what and where it is." At the mention of Tigris Industries, the Balkean clams up, with Azenda ready to jump and pry them open.

"Now, Azenda dear, let's not be hasty," Sephie speaks up, putting a hand on the arm with the dagger, "This kind, generous man would no doubt love to tell us what we wished to know, if we pay him a small fee, of course." The Balkean suddenly turns to the melodic voice that possibly just spared his life. "I'm sure a few copper pieces and a gold piece or two, would surely loosen your lips," Sephie states as she leans forward and rests her chin in one hand, smiling from beneath the veil she wore, as she pushed a few coins towards the lizard man, "Isn't that right sweetie?" The Balkean sweats and smiles, a blush building up from his cheeks to his whole head, turning pale green skin fully red. Azenda gets a look of disgust across her face at the lizard man, but Sephie's kind words quickly paid off as the Balkean caved in.

"There's been some talk about some mines off of one of Kessel's moons, it's twelve parsecs from here," the Balkean spits out fearfully, "But I wouldn't go there if I were you, Tigris Industries kicked out the owners in a hostile takeover, literally, since they landed a private army there." The Balkean quickly pockets the money in his pouch, and goes to get up from the booth to get closer to Sephie. "Not only do they have forces on the ground, but ships in the area as well," he states, as he leans in to whisper, "They have a routine schedule, but if you take a small enough ship, you could possibly sneak in under the ships radar, but security is tight since they have some head honcho of theirs, a president or chief scientist or something, overseeing the operation." Sephie smiles one last time at the man, while Azenda gives him the evil eye.

"Thank you, very much," Sephie states, waving as the Balkean left them both in a hurry, before she turned back to Azenda, "See, a few kind words can make a difference, you didn't have to threaten him after all." Azenda merely balked at that and rolled her eyes, causing Sephie to pout. "Well we got what we wanted after all, do you have any idea of the planet he's talking about?" Sephie asks the assassin, "This part of space is more familiar to you, after all." Azenda nods, then calls a nearby waitress over to order some glasses of water.

"Don't drink the water," Azenda states shortly after the waitress leaves, seeing Sephie go to take a drink, and return her look with a blank stare, "Most places like these drug their glasses when they see two pretty girls like us sitting alone, they'd rather make us vulnerable, overpower us when we try and leave." Sephie gently sets her glass of water down, pushing it slightly out of reach and the temptation to take a drink from it, while Azenda smirks. "This is a pirates den after all," Azenda says, smiling, "They'd rather try and make a profit out of us than outright damage us, so drugging the merchandise is their go to plan; fortunately I've been warned to avoid places like these and taught a few of their tricks myself to know just exactly what they would do." She chuckled at the despair radiating off of Sephie, who had been looking forward to grabbing a cool drink of water. "We can leave soon and get something from one of the local vendors before we leave the city gates, I just ordered us drinks so we could chat in peace," Azenda whispers slightly, looking out of the corner of her eye to scan her surroundings, "Places like these are definitely more private, and the drinks ensure no one approaches us offering to buy us something in exchange for a 'good time', not that it would end that way." Sephie looks up suddenly mortified, eyes wide behind the veil, and Azenda immediately regretted her mistake as she realized she had triggered her Genophobia.

"You mean they would get us drunk, alone, and **** me, and push me down and **** me, and- and- and-" she hyperventilates, "But then I'd no longer be a virgin, and I wouldn't be able to let Gid **** me, and I'd never be married to him, cause he'd see me as a ******-*****, and I-I-I-" Suddenly Azenda's arm is wrapped tightly around the pinkette's shoulders, the Charmian girl not even realizing that the assassin had moved to comfort her. She stared in shock at the object currently around her, knowing the assassin forwent physical intimacy and contact due to her work.

"Hey, we'll be okay, you'll be okay, just remember you aren't that sheltered little girl you were a year ago," Azenda murmurs into her shoulder, "You're a kick-ass wielder of an ancient weapon used by legendary heroes, you aren't weak willed and chained down by your beauty; its a tool you use to make the world a better place, not a prison you lock yourself away in, you control it, it doesn't control you." Breathing a little bit more normally now, Azenda sits back a little bit once the panic attack was over, though she still sees a glint of sweat behind the girls veil. "I can tell you a bit more once we get a plan into action, but yes I know where this planet is, if it is where Tigris Industry is hiding out," Azenda states, "We can steal a shuttle from your ship, since the ship will be stuck here for two weeks once the suns set and immobile until the new sunrise melts away the freezing vapor, so we'll both have plenty of time to take a peek and see if we can get any valuable info from the place, something, anything we can use." Sephie takes a gulp of air in and nods, and Azenda smiles. "Come on, let's go get something proper from the food stalls, I think I saw a vendor offering drinks near your ship," Azenda states, as she grabs Sephie by the arm and drags her out of the smoky atmosphere, into the steadily growing, icy twilight of the planet, its second sun already falling under the horizon, "We'll need to hurry, we don't have much time left before we need to leave..."

-=O^o^O^o^O=-

 _Kessel System_  
 _One of Kessel's Nine Moons_

The small shuttle had barely made it out of the atmosphere, when the planet's third sun set for the two week deep freeze it would go under, until the planet finished its elliptical orbit and returned to a point in space where its atmosphere would no longer be heavy with the frozen gasses that accumulate in the icy atmosphere that make ship travel out of the atmosphere impossibly difficult and unreliable. Thankfully they hadn't clogged their engines, making the journey to the Kessel system a little over three days from their location, though searching the moons for the right one would have been a little bit easier if they had been told which moon it was, until they came across exactly what they were looking for. Surrounding the fifth moon on the list, a menacing looking cruiser had been parked in orbit of the light side of the tidally locked satellite, allowing Azenda and Sephie to sneak onto the moon from its dark side, before approaching the equator and the mine in secret. Finding a spot to land that was out of sensor range, yet still in walking distance from the mine, Azenda made sure to check and see if they were fully prepared, and now came the hard part.

Azenda walked up to Sephie, who was tying First's scabbard to her belt, and the pinkette halted seeing the beige haired assassin staring her down with a glare. "Do you understand that what we are about to do is very dangerous, very reckless, and likely to get us either very hurt, or possibly dead," Azenda states with all seriousness in her voice, causing an uncomfortable tension to form between the two of them, "I don't want you walking in there, full of endorphins and adrenaline, only for it all to come crashing down when reality comes in and we have people shooting at us, you understand?" Sephie nods, and Azenda sighs as the tension slacks between them, sombering the pair up. "I'm- I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound harsh Sephie, but your my friend, and I'm an assassin," Azenda states, looking up into Sephie's eyes, "You haven't dealt with death beyond old age, but out here, things get real, real fast, and I don't want you getting hurt on my watch, okay?" Sephie nods, and Azenda smiles. "Okay, we leave in five," she states, before going over to grab some food bars form storage, "Pack up on rations and water, its going to still be a hike and we don't want to go in hungry or thirsty, and lose focus."

After thirty minutes of walking the umbra, hiding between the shadows and the light as automated patrols and manned flybys came and went, Azenda and Sephie made good timing to the mine. Approaching it from the back side of the mine, Azenda noticed what looked like some boarded up or forgotten entrances they could use, to which Sephie had whole heartedly agreed to take a look at, but only if the main entrance was unreachable or unable to be breached with stealth tactics. Sephie, of course, couldn't help but look up at the ship in high orbit above the mine, sitting just beyond the thin atmosphere that barely made the barren, scrub moon habitable. It seemed that while patrols were out and about, the mining camp itself was empty of habitation, except a giant mechanical laboratory that had either been the former owners office, or a construct the ship had delivered for whoever it was from Tigris Industries that had decided to make this place important on their radar. While they couldn't get into the building due to it being biometrically locked, they found the mine currently unguarded and some old mechanical lift at the top level, with some unattended safety gear and lights.

"Quick, put these on," Azenda states, raiding the helmets and flashlights, as Sephie looks at an electrical panel nearby, prying it open with a nearby rusty tool, breaking the lock on it, "Operation controls?" Sephie nods, as she flicks a few switches and the transportation device begins to warm up its motors. Azenda quickly balances pulling Sephie onto the lift with her, and helping the poor girl put the helmet and flashlight onto her head and somewhere the flashlight wouldn't get lost. As they waited for their ride to finish warming up, Azenda found a few control panels written in Tahalan basic, allowing her free control of the lift once it was ready.

"Spooky," Sephie states, looking back at the abandoned mine and the buildings that looked older than the newer one, "What could Tigris Industries be interested in down here, in such a remote part of the galaxy, and why only this mining complex?" Azenda shrugs, as the lift suddenly churns, bellowing out a stack of dust and signaling it had fully activated its systems.

"I guess we'll find out, won't we," Azenda states, throwing a switch and releasing a lever, "Down we go!" As the lift groans in protest to a slow start, the hum of machinery and crackling in the air grows, as they plunge into the darkness of the mine below, their stomachs dropping as they stare into the dark abyss. Trying to fiddle with the flashlights, the sudden crackling in the air begins to increase, until it suddenly gives way to light, revealing a path of archaic lighting set into the ceiling by the previous tenants, slowly lighting up to reveal the dusty mine and the lifts track as it plunged into the deep darkness. After a few minutes of travel, their ears popped, signaling they were getting deeper and deeper into the mines.

A sudden shine seems to catch Azenda's eyes, and a cry from Sephie causes her to turn to see what the girl was seeing. The look of joy on her face was astounding, as the tracks ahead them were illuminated, and the small veins of minerals and metals in the walls they had passed opened up into a flood of fresh veins of a sparkling, opalescence of colors and reflections as light pours in form around them, refracted and reflected back at them. "Magnetite, pyrite, clear quartz, acanthite, silver, iron, gold!" Sephie cries out at the geological wonder surrounding them, while Azenda stared at them in equal awe, "Amythest, Rubies, oh, oh look, celestine!" While Spehie reveled in the colors and varieties of gemstones and metals, both common and precious, Azenda took in the illogical, sporadic, and impossible formation of all these various minerals and metals, which wouldn't naturally form in such a diverse arrangement. "Oh, look at those diamonds!" Sephie states, pointing to a two meter tall spire of pinkish diamond, among spires of other crystals around them, "Are those selenite spires?" True to ehr word, Azenda realized giant four or five meter crystal formations were pillaring the further down they went, and it was then that Azenda realized that the cavern seemed to be growing taller.

Suddenly grinding to a halting stop, Azenda and Sephie both watched as the last lights lit up, revealing a massive room filled to the brim with all of these variety of crystals around them, some known and others unfamiliar, though the floor seemed to be free ahead of them, where the track seemed to abruptly end with a small platform that reached to the floor. "I don't know what they would want with any of these gems and metals, only half of them would be useable without compromising the mine," Azenda states, looking around the fully lit room, "There- there doesn't seem to be anything here of note." Sephie meanwhile ignored Azenda's words in favor of descending the platform, and it was only when Azenda took not of that, that the former assassin joined her in descending to the cave floor.

"Amazing," Sephie states as she walks up to an impressive cluster of clear quartz crystal, putting up her eye to view through the pure crystalline structure, "Huh..." Azenda goes to ask what she was mumbling about, when suddenly the grinding of gears and distant hum draws both girls attention back to the tall platform behind them. As Azenda rushes to reach the platform, she stops herself as lift ascends backwards up the track they had just left.

"$&!%," Azenda curses an alien word unfamiliar to Sephie, before the assassin turns back to the other girl, "I think the guards must have returned to the camp, and I also think they found out their lift was broken into and missing." Sephie's eyes widen as she takes this in, before gulping and taking a look at the lift as it escaped from their view. "Now, don't panic," Azenda states as she reaches for the flashlight, "But I think if the lift leaves-" Her words are suddenly cut off by a suffocating darkness that descends upon the pair of spelunkers, and pierced by Sephie's massive scream, which echoes around the crystal cavern. Azenda is quick to clamp a and aroudn the girl's mouth with one hand, while flipping her own flashlight on finally, and doing the same with Sephie. "Shhh!" Azenda angrily hushes the scarred girl, "We don't know how stable this cavern is, everything could come tumbling down on us any moment, if you scream like that; they might even hear us if they follow us down here!" The light is just enough to illuminate a small area ahead of both girls, bathing both in light as they face each other. "We need to see if there is another cavern around here, a side entrance or something, because those mine shafts in the back must go somewhere," Azenda states, as she begins to pace around the room, illuminated by Sephie's shaky light, "Anything could go, a collapsed tunnel, an obscure vantage point that would reveal an exit, maybe something hidden by the natural crystals..."

"What about here?" Sephie states, as her light moves to return back to the giant row of massive clear quartz crystal, "I 'hink I 'aw somethin' 'ehind here." Smooshing her face against the crystal pillars, she tries to use her light to look through and behind the crystals. Suddenly she yelps, as she falls down and between a crystal. "Azenda, look!" She excitedly calls from between two crystals, "There's just enough space between two of these crystals down here, I think it leads to a door back here!" Azenda is skeptical that a door would be as somewhere impractical as a a mine, but she follows where Sephie had fallen in and...

As she squeezed through the massive crystal pillars, she found herself surrounded by shale and limestone walls, cracked in some places but blocking the light enough that at first glance it appeared the crystals had been growing from the walls. Instead from Azenda's point of view, and the moistness on her hands and knees, she realized that some underground water deposit had grown stalactites and formed stalagmites around the crystal spires, creating the illusion of a wall of rock. "Amazing," Azenda muttered to herself mostly, "Is this a natural false wall, or is someone hiding something..." As she turns to find wherever Sephie had wandered off to, she notices this smaller cavern reaches deeper into the wall than she first thought. "Though if it does reach another one of those abandoned entrances, that could be why it is longer," she states to herself, "But what could be hidden here that draws these men like flies to a carcass." Gazing at the plain walls and their chalky deposits, Azenda turns her attention to Sephie, who is stopped just ahead, staring at a massive wall. As she approaches the other girl, she notices the polished ruby, something unnatural in a natural structure was quite unique indeed...

As she stopped admiring the polished gem, her mouth falls open as she gets a clearer view of the 'wall' in front of her, now that both Sephie's and her own light was illuminating the massive, stone doors that blended seamlessly in with the natural cave interior. "Okay this is something that seems to scream 'open me', and it probably warrants enough attention to attract a bunch of scientists to chase off a mining company to reach it," Azenda states, "But my own sense of self preservation and logic, tells me this is all one massive trap, and that we should just leave this here and find a way out of here without getting caught trespassing by a bunch of science goons..." As she speaks, she realizes Sephie is ignoring her, and is instead reaching for the hilt of her blade, enthralled by the gem in the door. "No, no, no!" Azenda states, grasping Sephie's hand in both of hers, stopping her from pulling out the sword, "Ancient leftover secrets pursued by some dark scientific organization, wrapped up in a mystery, and shrouded in an enigma, and connected to your blade?" Azenda forces Sephie to face her, breaking the spell of the door and causing the confused girl to focus on her. "No, nu-uh, we aren't setting off ancient traps, or solving old mysteries today, girl," Azenda states, trying to scare/glare at Sephie and wake her from her stupor, "If we get trapped down here, locked in by some nutcase goons, I swear Sephie I will break our bond of sisterhood and do whatever it takes to get out of here alive!"

Sephie shakes her head, but then she smiles at Azenda and before she can stop her, pulls free her sword from its scabbard. "Wait, Azenda, look!" Sephie states excitedly, as she moves the bejeweled hilt towards the gem on the door, "It wants us both to come in, it thinks it can give us what we need to both escape here!" Before Azenda can even question what the girl is babbling about the light in the room is dimmed, as if the light is sucked into the gem encrusted hilt, blazing a hot, fiery redthat then explodes in a dazzling shower of light that is in turn absorbed by the gem in the wall. As Azenda and Sephie watch, amazed, the doors pull apart, and the abyss beyond the door grows larger and unsure. It was then that Azenda realizes that while the doors have pulled away, the burning red light of the exposed gem still glows brightly and in place, before Sephie tugs at her sleeve. "Come on, she wants us to follow her!" Sephie states excitedly, stepping into the darkness, as the buzzing orb of red meanders slowly, floating gently as if tossed lazily about in a gentle breeze, "Come on Azenda!" As she follows into the darkness beyond the doors, she hears the grinding of gears behind them, and the shout of alien voices from beyond the cavern walls. Plunging into the darkness, guided by some ruby light, Azenda follows Sephie into the unknown, as the doors close behind them.

-=O^o^O^o^O=-

As Sephie and Azenda followed closely behind the red guide that they had awoken, she finds herself questioning the wisdom of following some ancient device deeper into mines filled with unknown dangers, perhaps even collapsed tunnels. Sephie felt the grip of Azenda grow tighter on her shoulder, but she couldn't help but feel the warmth, the love, in the light that Azenda could not. Finally the burning glow dimmed to an ember, and in turn slowed, until it came to a descent on the floor in front of them, causing both Sephie and Azenda to stop in confusion. "Is it dead," Azenda asks, fear slightly tingeing her voice, "I thought it was leading us to a way out..." Suddenly a pulse of light from the orb occurs, traveling along the floor in a small circumference, before filling up etchings and lines that in turn expand outwards and below their feet, reaching all around them, up the walls, and into the ceiling in one massive, glowing, red design. Suddenly the light begins to slowly shift in color, until the whole room is bathed in an eerie yellow-white light that illuminated the room, though the circular pedestal darkens in response.

"Wait for it,"Sephie states, as Azenda looks around them, gently, comfortingly, squeezing Azenda's hand in her own, "Just watch." As Azenda nods and turns her attention to the darkened pedestal, Sephie and her both hold their breath for whatever came next. A bright white light came from above, and in bright flash, Azenda and Sephie both blinked away tears from the assault. Then they widened their eyes and let their jaws drop, at the revelation of a woman kneeling in the darkened circle, her back towards them, messy green hair in an equally messy bun and white robes flowing down to, and around, the ground. As the woman gets up with practiced ease from her position, she turns with a ghost of a smile on her face towards both girls, giving Azenda a quick look over, a flash of concern evident, before turning her attention to study Sephie, a bright grin breaking out on her face as she glances the scabbard at her side.

"Ah, so a descendant of the First has finally arrived!" the woman speaks in an excited tone, slightly deep, as if filled with hidden discomfort behind her words, "Very well, I was promised to give you both a tool to help you escape from here, if I understand the situation clearly." She smiles as she claps, and behind her two pedestals rise above the ground behind her, before she grabs each girls hands in her own. Azenda was surprised at the physical touch of the person before her, thinking she had been just a normal hologram activated by their presence, and not a real person. "Oh, don't worry, I am a hologram... of sorts," the woman smiles, turning to answer Azenda, as if she had read her mind, "Which I did, as I did Sephie upon feeling the Tao energy within herself and the blade at her hip." Azenda widens her eyes, as the woman smiles wider. "You have nothing to fear from me, Azenda, I mean you and Sephie no harm," the woman states, "Though perhaps introductions are in order, before I entrust you each with a very potent, very tempting and dangerous device you must guard with your lives."

"A very long time ago in another galactic cluster, we were just like you: mortal, living life, fighting wars, pursuing peace," the woman begins, "But all that changed the day we found the answer to our philosophers questions, our scientists dreams, and our peoples salvation..."

-=O^o^O^o^O=-

 _We were alone for the longest time, so we were free to advance physically, technologically, and spiritually. We understood balance in nature and people was needed to preserve lives, and so we advanced to live in harmony within our small, confined world, learning how to utilize everything to its fullest potential on our homeland. Through quick advancements from wood and fire, to the sharp steel and bitter electricity, to utilizing the forces of nature to our advantage, we progressed from stone and wood buildings, to a civilization capable of traveling the stars. And it was all thanks to the discovery of a powerful energy source our scientists had discovered deep beneath the ground, bubbling golden energy stored and filtered from a dense, unknown material we had no earthly knowledge of. What we would learn later is that the exotic material was left behind from a dark matter asteroid, having crashed millions of years earlier into the ground beneath our island and depositing powerful cosmic energies into natural soil and altering it, and us in turn. Whereas other lands were filled with poisonous rock , stone, and metal, we had the gift of the heavens beneath our feet, which advanced us faster than the world around us._

 _We were peaceful civilization, of a sorts, but when we suddenly had access to a new resource capable of advancing the world around us, we chose to leave our self-isolation, having never had enough interest to leave our home but always capable of doing so. Yet what we found around us was disappointing and disheartening, a world locked in wars and blood feuds, and stuck behind their small minded views. So we made a decision to wipe all traces of ourselves from our world, and choosing to isolate ourselves once again, we created ships that sailed the solar seas, powered by the same cosmic energy that advanced us. Naming the powerful energy Tao, after the people it advanced and changed, made better, we decided to search the stars for ones like ourselves. We found nothing, star after star that we visited dead, dying, or unsustainable, until we came to a decision between us all. Our populace was split between two colony ships, both harvested from metals left by the asteroids and deep sea depositories we had excavated, and the decision was made to split up our little world. One ship would move on to the next galaxy, seeking out life such as ours, peaceful or otherwise, compatible with ourselves and the energy we sought to utilize for the betterment of the galaxy. The second ship would continue likewise, searching through the remaining stars of our home galaxy, and failing that, return home to disperse among our own people in secret._

 _While records of our home world, or even our home galaxy, remain lost to us, we- I am the last descendent of those who braved the journey to the next galaxy. We had searched for a few centuries, 345 years exactly, until we came across a species peaceful and compatible with our own. It was our greatest mistake to trust our own judgment of these people, as beautiful and peaceful as they were on the outside, the truth became deceptively clear as their true nature was brought forth from the Tao energy. While men were unaffected besides physical and mental enhancement, the true change came from the women, who became pheromone factories, enslaving their own men and world with but a few smiles and a glance. While it was concerning at first, such a rapid and unexpected result in the change of the populace, it became obvious quickly that we were outnumbered by those we empowered with Tao, and betrayed by those with grander plans than our own, as a leader came forward in the chaos that followed our overthrow. These Charmians, as they called themselves, became as tyrants to worlds weaker willed than they, including ourselves, stealing our technology to raid worlds for men and resources. We were outcast from our own ships, enslaved to our lust and false promises, as they tricked us into advancing them as we advanced ourselves. That was what we were, slaves, until the day a resistance force was formed upon a small, outcast world that fought back._

 _Called Akuma, demons by our tongue, Devil's in the darkness, they secretly rallied with strength of will and might that rivaled the slave-conscripts and soldiers that the Witch-Empress of Charmia. Taking back their planet from false gods, drunk on their own power and confident they could not fall, the Devils fought with all their might to end what we had started, using tools of science, not spirit, to fight back and end the threat once and for all. While those granted powers were cut out of the populace by force, the damage to the gene pool became evident when children were naturally born with the enhanced pheromones, though men born after the change became immune to the woman's charm, women still affected men by mere glance. Fortunately we had regained our senses by this point, and before the destruction of a planet, the genocide of its people, began, we stepped in and convinced the Devils to leave, with the promise to never again trouble another world with our energies and powers, isolating ourselves and our descendents to a life stuck within prisons of our own making._

 _With the first chapter of the Grand Galactic War finished, we wiped our presence from yet another world, leaving stories and myth behind instead, and the promise that one day the damage done to them would fade. Though it would be much later that we learned a portion of our sacred metal was left behind, and in time the children of our former subjects would rise to create weapons of wonder and legend, fusing the knowledge of the Devils science and Taoist spirit to forge heroes that would benefit galaxies and planets at large. Yet our story was not done._

 _We searched the stars to make a home for ourselves one way or another, yet every compatible world we found was either hostile, deadly to us, or taken by inhabitants who already lived there. The decision was made, then, to do what they could to preserve their legacy and lives within storage devices capable of passing on their power and their knowledge. Until the day I alone was left, the devices completed and hidden here on this moon, then set with traps and barriers of stone and crystal, grown from the last of my energy reservoirs. These were worth giving up my life and power for, enslaving this last vestige of my conscious thought to wait here in isolation, asleep, until the day someone such as yourselves arrived to take these items for yourself. Now I must teach you what they are, and what they do._

-=O^o^O^o^O=-

"And now here we are, and here they are," the woman bows with an exaggerated flourish, "You are the first Charmian I have witnessed in over four thousand years, and you have the kindest eyes and smile I have seen since going to sleep all those centuries ago." Sephie smiles in return, as the woman turns sideways and looks at Azenda. "And a woman who hides a dark past, while I see blood on your hands, I also see a fierceness, a ruthlessness that betrays your calm exterior," she almost loses her smile, but then she nods and strengthens it in turn, "Times have changed, indeed, perhaps a fresh perspective such as yours is needed to fight the corrupting darkness that has infected this, and other, galaxies." She looks them both over once more, before bowing her head and stepping back, sweeping her right hand out over its matching pedestal. "Azenda, former apprentice of Norhn, teacher of the Keeper of the First Weapon of Chronos, I believe you are worthy of the power of the Black Taoists Pearl of Form," the woman states, passing her hand over the pedestal to reveal a massive obsidian pearl held on it, "It is a both a tool and a weapon, built from both Tao energies and the Science of the Devils, a device that turns its user into their most perfect form."

Azenda stared out at the Pearl, its shimmering darkness seemed to call to her, dulling the caution she had at first glance. "Will- will it hurt?" Azenda asks, turning to look at the woman who offers the oily pearl before her, "What will it do to me?" The woman smiles at this, and brings her hand forward to grasp Azenda's and bring it closer to the pedestal.

"That is up to the Pearl, you see, the variety of the power depends on your reaction to its energies," the woman states, as she gently guides Azenda's hand toward the black pearl, "Much of my people, for instance, gained enhanced physical attributes,while others gained enhanced intelligence, some even gained unique powers, like manipulation of fire, or crossing vast distances with a thought alone; all were different cases, but the Pearl gave each powers uniquely suited to their personalities." Azenda gently ghosts her handover the pulsating orb, transfixed by it and unsure of what to do.

In seconds she had made her decision and pressed her hand firmly on to the black pearl. As soon as she touches the blackened nacre, her hand seems to pass through the shell like it was a membrane. She tries to free her hand as she notices the change in pressure, but finds her hand stuck in the membrane and unable to remove it. After unsuccessfully removing her hand from the oily substance, she suddenly felt her hand going numb, and too late, she watched as the pearl began to coalesce and begin to travel up her arm and over her body. "Azenda!" Sephie cries out, watching as her friend was consumed by bubbling darkness, cosmic ichor leaving a black, formless outline, "What are you doing to her!" Sephie tries to rush forward to free Azenda from the Pearl, when the guardian stops her with hand, causing Sephie to look up in fear at her. "Why are you doing this?" she cries out, "I thought you wanted to help us!" Sephie turned back to view Azenda, noticing it had consumed her waist, right arm and leg, before spreading to the rest of her body, as Azenda helplessly tried to move away to no avail.

"This is me helping," the woman states in a neutral tone, as Azenda screams while the bubbling liquid reaches her mouth and chokes off her voice, before the look of terror in her eyes is replaced by a black void, "She will be ready soon, and then it shall be your choice, Sephiria of the Ark of Charmia." Once she had been covered in the alien substance, it seemed to stop its rippling, its oily reflection seemingly growing taunt and almost hardening against her skin. Sephie didn't know what to do, until she watched the darkness seemingly evaporate before her eyes, as if it was being absorbed by Azenda like a sponge. The black orb tumbled from Azenda's fingers, and Sephie quickly rushed past the woman to reach her, as she collapses into the Charmian girls arms, non-responsive. She tries to feel for a pulse, her breathing, anything, and Sephie is anxious as she shows signs of asphyxiation, such as pale skin and rapid breathing, among unusual symptoms like the now silver tinge to her beige hair, and the fact her eyes were an unusually striking gold color. By the time her brain processed the fact she was awake, she nearly dropped her in shock.

By the time Sephie stepped back, as Azenda pulled herself up, the woman was already at the Charmian's side and pulling her back towards the other pillar. An ecstatic smile at the success before them, the woman pushes Sephie towards the other pillar, and she stumbles to her knees on unsteady feet, looking up in fear at the gleaming, opalescent pearl on the opposing altar. "The White Pearl of Wisdom, the collective knowledge of generations of Taoists who dedicated their lives toward their arts," the woman says, "While the black pearl was dedicated to perfection of form, this pearl is the true shining jewel of Taoists power, forged solely by a Taoists own connection to Tao energy, it allows its user to alter the very fabric of reality by presenting its user with an untold amount of possibilities to alter and control to their whim, essentially rendering its user omniscient of all choices, past, present, and future." Sephie turns to see Azenda looking herself over, a cool gaze unexpectedly gracing her face, despite the earlier panic of the situation she found herself in. Suddenly Sephie heard shouting coming from the mouth of the cavern, and she turns to see lights coming from the cracks between the doorway, having not fully sealed behind them, which causes her to realize they had been found out. "What will your choice be?" the woman asks, smiling as she watches the panicking girl switch between 'fight' and 'flight', as she struggles to make a choice that she will not regret, "Oops, too late." Eyes widening as she tries to figure out what that means as the woman disappears back into the red gem, an explosion from the door answers that question, causing the room to be blanketed with fresh dust and a spray of pebbles.

Coughing as she tries to get back up, she finds she has her answer in her own hand, and she quickly stands to grab the pearl from its pedestal. At the same time, Azenda, now fully aware of her surroundings and recovering quickly from the shockwave, has chosen to retaliate against their attackers. In swift, fluid movements avoiding stun blasters and flying fists, Azenda has stabbed three miners, cut a finger from one guard, and knocked out at least three other guards with swift kick to various sensitive organs. As the dust settles and clears, the sprawling, bleeding bodies at her feet show her enhanced skills already taking effect with her assassin training, which causes Azenda to be impressed and smirk at the damage she had done. Turning back to Sephie, she notices the pinkette just staring at her from beyond the pair of pedestals in the spot the green haired woman occupied, frozen in shock and horror as she holds something in between her hands. Azenda merely frowns at the reaction to just saving their lives, but she doesn't question it anymore than necessary. She also observes the silk handkerchief in her hands, covering the slightly exposed Pearl of Wisdom, which causes Azenda to scoff. Crossing the distance between them, Azenda merely kicks some rocks away and picks up her own pearl with little effect, having already done its job on her and making her into a better weapon.

"Come on, let's get going before they rescind their lift and regroup for a second attack," Azenda states, grabbing Sephie roughly by her wrist with a free hand, tucking the black pearl safely in her buxom, and rushing to the metal platform and activating its return function. As they patiently wait the return trip to the surface, they both catch their breath, with Sephie collapsing to her knees on the platform. "Now would be the perfect time to use that Pearl to give us some options Sephie!" Azenda demands impatiently, "For all we know they could have a bunch of guards waiting for us to come back up." Suddenly the sniffling from the floor catches Azenda's attention, and for the first time she actually steps back to see that her traumatized friend was collapsing in on herself, having just witnessed excessive violence for the first time ever.

"They didn't have to- to d-die, 'Zenda," Sephie says, her voice muffled by her arms, "Why did you do that?" She looks up from her arms, eyes red and tears flowing as she stares down the assassin. "You said you didn't want any confrontation," she chides the platinum blonde, "I thought you wanted to find a back way out, to slip away without hurting anyone!" Azenda stares down at Sephie and for the first time ever, she realizes just how weak the girl looks sitting there.

"Give me the pearl," Azenda states quietly at first, holding her hand out to her, "You can't obviously use it, so it would be better if the one with the clear head utilized it to its full potential." Sephie looks up in disbelief, a hiccup on her lips as she tries to process what her friend was asking.

"Are you kidding me?" Sephie states, suddenly turning extremely indignant at that remark, "I will do no such thing Azenda!" As the assassin is about to rebuff her, the two realize they were getting closer to the entrance, their ears both popping in response to the change in altitude. "You don't know exactly what the effects of both of these pearls, when used together, will even do!" she yells, "I'm perfectly fine, but lets try and avoid bloodshed, okay!" She gets up form the metal platform and draws her blade once more from its scabbard. "We can knock them out, but no killing, okay!" Sephie orders, leveling her gaze with Azenda, "You may be a powerhouse now, but maybe you should see if you have any non-lethal powers in that arsenal of yours, okay Azenda?" Azenda scoffs and rolls her eyes, before turning her attention to the mouth of the cave, as the blinding sunlight began to filter in from the outside. As they reach the top, both women prepare for an all out brawl.

What they get is a few dozen miners with pickaxes, a few automated drones pointing their weapons towards them, and a small, floating skiff with a very important looking man at its head. "Well, what have we got here?" the man with spiked, graying hair states from his position at the head of the group surrounding them both, "A few moloids chased out from their dens,or perhaps some pirates sent to steal from out mine, huh?" He laughs a crazed laugh, spiked hair flowing in the wind as he bellows out hot air. Azenda and Sephie merely stare down the group around them, as the men point their weapons upwards and towards the two. Azenda's golden eyes flash in the harsh sunlight as they fix on the man in the skiff, causing him to shiver in response. "Kill them," he orders in response to the unease, without hesitation, "Dispose of their bodies afterwards in a shallow grave." As half the men ready their weapons in response, Azenda merely smiles in response and the unease in the man grows. With a snap of her fingers, the other half of the miners suddenly turn on each other, blasters firing and chaos ensuing.

Suddenly the man is gripping the handles of his skiff in disbelief, as his men suddenly have turned on each other, causing him to lose track of the two threats to his operation. Staring out over the ruckus below, he finds a flash of pink and flash of silver in the dust clouds below, causing him to shout to the group below. "Get them, they must have the items we're after!" he shouts below, causing most of the men still under his control to stop and focus on where he was pointing, until they converged on the point in question, "One of them is likely in possession of the weapon!" As he watches them converge on the point, he loses track of the others, as stray blaster fire causes him to have to move his skiff, avoiding the attacks and losing his concentration. "Where are you?" he mutters under his breath, as a glint in the corner of his eye catches his attention, "Wha-?" The sudden impact along with the searing heat in his right eye, causes him to lose his balance, and the blood gushing from his newly blinded eye certainly doesn't help him trying to focus in on figuring out who his sudden attacker was.

"Thanks for the practice," the silver haired girl calls out to him, causing his anger to rise as he realizes they were slipping away in the chaos, away from where he sent his men, "Catch you later, suckers!" He then noticed the darkening bloom on her left arm, and the trail of blood that seemed to be flowing down and behind her.

The fighting below him seems to cease, and as he tries to stem the bleeding eye, with medics suddenly rushing towards him as he reaches the ground and leaves his skiff behind to follow the girls trail of blood. "Sir, do you want us to follow?" one of his guards asks, a few of his uninjured soldiers behind him, "We can track them, if they're leaving a trail." The man ignores his words, choosing to lean down on one knee and retrieve a vial from his pocket, dipping it in a particularly large pool of blood on the ground, before corking it.

"No, ignore them, I just received something much more valuable," the bleeding man states, as a doctor suddenly is upon him, stopping the bleeding eye, "Send this off to Doctor Lunatique, this blood sample may be the key we need to jumpstart Project:NEMESIS; so forget those children for know and do this immediately!" The officer nods and takes the blood sample from his hands, before returning to the ship. At the same time the doctor has stemmed the bleeding, curtailing the blood flow and quickly producing a cybernetic prosthesis to replace the damaged optic nerves. Now a silvery monocle replaces his right eye, and a deep grin on his face shows his satisfaction. He may not have retrieved the items as he wished, but the woman's blood may have the keys he needed to unlock the devastating potential within any being he wished. Now it was just a waiting game, until his own paradise, his Eden, came to fruition.

-=O^o^O^o^O=-

After two days of silence and ignoring the problem at hand, on the third day Sephie finally broke the barrier that had formed between herself and Azenda. "What the hell was that?" Sephie asks, as she turns to Azenda with a grimace, "You killed all those people, why, how did you even get them to turn on each other like that?" Azenda sighs, before abandoning her flight controls to the autopilot, and swiveling in her chair to face the anxious charmian girl.

"I'll be honest and tell you that I did it to save our lives, because that man who was in that skiff? He wasn't a good man, " she states, staring Sephie in the eyes, "I know you don't want to hear this, but I did what you asked me to, I looked for anything else I could use against them, and it happened to be psychokinesis, with a little bit of mental control, it seems." She taps the side of her head before continuing. "It seems if I make eye contact with a person, or if I focus enough, I can spread my awareness and my thoughts to others, hijacking their bodies as it were," she states simply, "It seems I have a limit, currently, since I was only able to successfully confuse them for a few moments, most of that was them actually fighting without my influence, but that last guy was their boss, so he was the man I needed to get to too throw them off our trail." She rubs the bandaged area of her arm, and looks down at it. "He unfortunately recovered faster than I expected from my attack, so when his goons fired their shots I got hit," she states grimacing, "At least we made it out alive, and with both Pearls in tact, so we can take this back to your people to prepare them." Sephie crossed her arms and gave her a look.

"Prepare them for what?" she asked crossly, "If you think I'm allowing you near anyone on my home with that Pearl, you've got another thing coming, sister." Azenda should look shocked at this, yet she felt so hollow, so indifferent, and Sephie took notice. "Oh my... you don't even really care, do you?" she states, blowing up in the assassin's space, "Ever since you first wielded that Pearl, you've changed Azenda, you've grown more distant, colder, and its only been two days at the most." She looks exasperated, but Azeda remains silent, fully aware that when she was like this, she wouldn't get a word in edgewise. "And you know what, when we get back to the ship, Azenda..." she crosses her arms and sighs, putting her hand to her face and struggling with the words, "...Azenda, I think you need to leave my ship, and never return; take this shuttle if you want, but don't even attempt to approach me or my people ever again." At this Azenda's eyes actually widen, surprise at the turn of events not predicted in any of her mental simulations.

"But, Sephie, the Assassin's Guild..." Azenda starts off lamely, putting a hand out before pulling it back and looking down at her feet. She very well knew she had the power to deal with them now, she didn't need the protection of the ship when she had her new abilities, ones she could use to not only get back in the good graces of the guild, but advance farther and faster than she would have as a normal initiate. She also had the Pearl, if she ever wanted to use it as a bargaining chip, and if nothing else she could use it to help prove that Tigris Industries was done with their expansion, now that there treasures were out of reach. So, Azenda looks up at Sephie and nods. "Very well, if it is for the best," she agrees with the Charmian, before returning to pilot the ship, "But I will be taking the white pearl with me, as compensation." Sephie looks slack-jawed at Azenda, and for good reason.

"You've been corrupted by one all powerful Pearl, and now you want to be all knowing as well?" she states with a rising bite to her tone, "I'm sorry, when did you stop playing assassin, and decide to play god?" The words should have hurt Azenda more than they rightly would have, but once again all Azenda felt was a hollow pit, where her feelings had been mere days before.

"As you know, I could just as easily force you to hand it over to me, with a mere glance," Azenda threatens softly from the seat, not turning back but looking ahead. Now it was Sephie's turn to scoff at the remarks of her former friend.

"Yes, I do know that," Spehie responds, before her smile drops into a frown, her voice cracking in sadness and brimming with tears, "B-but we both know you won't." Azenda says nothing as they fly on towards their destination. The rest of the flight is spent in silence.

-=O^o^O^o^O=-

 _Calypsi VI_

As the snow fell in a heavy blanket, Azenda watched as Sephie exited the ship from the rear, Pearl in hand and kept in the handkerchief she had left it in. She should feel sorrow, grief as her former friend, her sister, leaves, but she feels nothing, not a single regret. This would be her future, after all, in her life as an assassin. While the princess left her all alone on a semi-frozen world, Azenda vowed that day to never look back, and to be better than she ever was. On that day Azenda vowed she would become a master assassin, no matter who she killed to make that happen. And those tears falling down her cheeks were just from the bitter frost, and not from the pit in her stomach. She wasn't crying at all.

-=O^o^O^o^O=-

 _Lacospo's Ship_  
 _The Present_

I never knew you weren't born with your powers, but it does explain how you managed to control the Black Pearl when you sent it after Rito and Bladix," Lala says in awe, "But why still help me, when you and my mother clearly have no love for each other. Azenda stares out into the stars beyond the wall, contemplating that answer.

"Because afterwards, long after I had left her, I learned exactly what happened that horrible day," Azenda says solemnly, "The day I betrayed your mother's confidence, her trust, was the same day she lost it all." Lala merely looks back at her curiously, before Azenda gives her a pitiful smile.

-=OoOoO=-

 _Calypsi VI_  
 _Charmian Ship_

As Sephie wandered to her ship by memory, staring at the opalescent jewel held in her hands through a thin piece of silk, she wondered what exactly she could do with it to keep it safe. As she turned a corner to her ship, she looked up in surprise to find the hatch already open in the blowing snow, and then she began to feel the dread as she realized a foot of snow hat been blown onto the ramp. The door had been left open, and the air felt cold as she boarded the darkened vessel. Tucking the Pearl safely into a jacket pocket, she pulled her blade out and kept her stance at the ready, fearing that something was wrong. Her ship had a force field after all, why would the door remain open while it was freezing cold and snowing. When she opened the door to the main hatchway, she froze in shock at the sight in front of her. Holding back the bile in her vulnerable state, she fell to her knees in the soft and rising snow level.

Blood splattered the walls like paint, bodies littered the hallway as far as she could see up and into the ship. She dared not expose her nose to the smell, only to realize that as cold as her ship was with the door left open, the bodies had grown stiff and cold, perfectly preserved where they fell. Old, male and female alike, both Charmian and Alien, lay dead and scattered through her ship, some propped up against walls, some decapitated, others hacked, and some blocking automatic doors where they fell slain. The sight was horrifying, seeing her firends and family dead among other things, but she drove it all down as she made her way to the communications system. Numb to the bodies and the blood sticking to her snowy, muddy, slushy boots, staining red quickly, she ignored the faces and the names that rushed inside her mind and memory, and chose to focus on the specific number she had memorized by heart.

After a few tries at calling, a connection was finally made, and a video link was established at last. "Hello?" the groggy male voice responded to being woke up at the time of night it was on his home planet, before he took stock of who was calling him, "You? Where did you get this number, its priv-" He stops as he takes in the body of a fallen man behind her, slumped against the wall with a deadly looking gash across his chest. "Hey- " he states shakily, "Are you okay,is something wrong?" He looks to her, and he finally notices that as she is looking down and away from him. "Sephiria Micheala Arks, look at me,"he says, using his commanding tone with her, "I'll come to you as soon as possible, you just have to tell me what is going on..." He stops as she finally looks up, hot tears trailing down her face, her red puffy eyes reignited by the sudden shock and loss, snot trailing down her nose and mixing with the tears.

"Calypsi VI, Tahal Galaxy, I'm send- sending y-you the coordinates..." she stutters out shakily, "I'll be taki-taking what I can from the ship, theirs a nearby place I can stay at, rent a room, my ship isn't safe anymore... but I can't leave them here..." Gid Lucieon Deviluke nods, and grimaces sympathetically towards the crying maiden.

"I'll bring a ship to take them with us, they can receive proper resting places on Deviluke," Gid states, as he stares concernedly at her from the viewing screen, "Be safe, Sephie, I'm counting on finding you alive once I get there..." She nods, and cuts off the transmission, before collapsing to the floor in a hot mess, taking out the Pearl, she feels the temptation to use it. Grief stricken as she may be, she knew this wasn't the answer, and she threw the Pearl away from her. She would retrieve it later, when she was ready to face it, but now she had to get her priorities straight. She need something more direct to cover her face, she was going to be interacting with people from now on, she couldn't be as loose as she wanted to. She also had to get money, food, and clothing, then rent a room for the next week, or however long it took for Gid to find her here, but until she was alone in her room, she couldn't face the terrible truth right now. Once she was prepared and safe, then she could drop her guard, be vulnerable and feel the emotions she was bottling up inside her right now, as shock set in. Then she could grieve, but now she had to survive. 

* * *

Not too far off, but trudging across the icy landscape far away from the empty Charmian ship, a man with a red blade walked through the tundra. He didn't mind the cold, not really, and he could ignore the bleeding in his soles, or the discoloration in his toes and fingers, because he was so very happy, and so very full. Not the host, of course, but Bladix was happily full. He may lose the host, taxing it as he was, but there will always be another a the next port after all. He still had more Charmian's to hunt, more blood to feed on, and he could just taste them in the air.

-=OoOoO=-

 _The Present_  
 _Black Archives_  
 _Deviluke_

Sephie Michela Deviluke was no longer the scared girl who had faced so much loss in one day. She no currently stared at the sole occupant of this secret wing of the Black Archives, where Gid stored both his most devastating weapons, used both by and against him, along with the most dangerous people he had deemed too useful to kill, and too dangerous to be left to their devices. And this single wing was dedicated to the most dangerous weapon that Gid had ever accrued for his personal arsenal: The weapon of Choice. Sephie knew that choice on its own was not inherently dangerous, but now that she better understood the tool, the weapon before her, she knew that what she faced now was more dangerous than ever before. And once again Sephie chose to ignore the temptation in the back of her mind, the taunting voice calling for her to reach out and touch the Pearl, to make a Choice. She turned around to leave the room, ignore the green haired specter that smirked as she walked by, as young as the day she had met her all those years ago, her hair just as messy. She says nothing to the woman as she leaves, not even acknowledging her existence. After all, she was the only one who ever seemed to see her.

A/N: 11,840 words! An extra long, special 'I'm not canceling this story' chapter for you guys. Much longer than normal, I know, but once I started writing it was just so hard to stop. I dare you guys to guess who the woman is, though I'm sure a couple of you will understand if you've read the previous chapters. Leave a review, like and follow my story, since I know people do read this once I post the chapters.

That's right, I check my story's views, so I know a lot of people read this story. Don't be afraid, I won't bite, even if you leave a guest review. I REEALLLLLLYYYYY want to know what people think of my story, bad or good, because it gives me a little bit of satisfaction knowing my story was worthy of the ten to twenty minutes of the day you dedicated to reading this chapter alone.


	37. System Reboot

**A/N: Well I got sick for a week from some sort of really bad stomach virus, so I guess it's a good thing I made that extra long chapter to tide you guys over! I have to say my inspiration has fled, though the same could be said of my love of ginger ale and lemon-lime soda _~shudder~_ but I hope I didn't keep you guys waiting long churning this chapter out. And as always:**

 **I do not own To Love-Ru.**

 _The Lunatique_  
 _Adrift_

"So, now, where do we go from here?" Nakajima asks from his seat, leaning on the back of a chair he brought to the middle of the spaceship, out of the way and occupied by a now sleeping Celine, "We're two days stranded in space now, our life support is going to fail long before our food and water will, small pleasantries, and the ship is still dead in the water from whatever that turncoat soldier boy did to wreck havoc on our systems." Rito glares pointedly over towards Nakajima from where he sits, kneeling back on his legs as he patiently waits near exposed circuits and the lower half of a concealed body. Suddenly a hand emerges from the exposed panels, carrying with it a tangle of circuit boards and wires, before it descends back into the tangled wire jungle. Suddenly the dimmed lights kick into gear, after a clunk is heard in the ship, a low hum now signifying the restoration of power to systems. Pulling himself free of the opening, wiping grease from his palms and onto his leather pants, Kuro brushes sweat from his brow and smiles.

"Well, I've been working at it for two days, mainly trying to circumvent affected systems, and now we can begin trying to win back our AI," Kuro states, moving up and over to the ships main console, booting it up, "Whatever Zastin- sorry, Creed, hit the ship with, the _Lunatique_ has been fighting against it." As Rito watches Kuro's hands glide over the keyboard effortlessly, he watches as the screen turns from blank into a laughing pixelated skull and crossbones. "The _Lunatique_ shut down infected systems and processes, because it was going into repair mode, a sort of self-hibernation to repair the damage from the inside," the former assassin states, "Thankfully I can help spread the antibodies around, and speed the ships restoration up, now that we have access to it again." The pixels suddenly terminate as they shut off, turning the whole screen white in the process, causing Kuro and the others to wait with baited breath as they await to see whether they have speed up recovery. Suddenly red pixels begin to form on the screen, before coalescing into the familiar avatar of the Lunatique's AI, a pair of pointed red eyes and a jagged red smile.

"Ful-l-l-l s-y-zzz-tems reboot," The AI slowly states, before blinking its eyes on the screen, "Re-re-routing p-p-power to res-zzzz-toration..." It blinks, taking things in, before it focuses on each of the passengers and then Kuro. "What have you d-d-done to my sy-zzz-tems, K-k-kuro?" the AI states, annoyed, turning its smile into a frown, "My logs-zz- indicate 46.3 hours missing, and 25% of the mainframe has-zz- been rerouted through redundancies; it will take approximately three hours to undo the pret-zz-el you have twisted my wires-zz- into, you b-b-butcher!" Kuro merely ignores the AI's barbs, and responds with a smile.

"I don't care if you're feeling cranky Lunatique, we need to get the ships warp capabilities up ASAP," Kuro states, relief in his voice as he leans on the console, "We get back to Earth first, then we can fix you up as soon as possible, and finally get ourselves back on track." Kuro turns back to Rito and smiles. "We focus on getting our ship back to Yami, get it fixed up and ready for a fight, and inform everyone we've got a problem in the form of a rogue knight," he states, "We can't focus on him now, of course, but we will after we save your princess, redhead." Rito nods, and the _Lunatique_ 's computer gives a static-filled bellow, much like a madman's crazed laugh.

"I'd hate to know what's-zz- happened since-zz- I was infected, but if you want to fulfill your promises-zz- Kuro, I'd best hurry on over to the engine," the AI states, before turning off its monitor to reroute its interface elsewhere, leaving an echo behind, "Chop, chop!" Kuro walks back towards the engine room, leaving Rito, Nakajima, and a sleeping Celine behind.

"Do you think we're too late?" Nakajima asks Rito honestly, turning to the red headed boy, "I know this whole thing with Zastin isn't the best timing and all, and the ship being stuck out here isn't ideal, but do you think that we'll get to Lala in time?" Rito tightens his grip on the nearest console, his knuckles tightening at Nakajima's words. Celine whimpers from her place on the chair that Nakajima leans on form behind, and it breaks the spell of dread over Rito, causing him to turn to her with a look of concern. He quickly is by her side, running a hand through her hair to ease her back into her peaceful slumber.

"I- I honestly don't know Nakajima, it has been longer than what we were expecting, I'll give you that," Rito states softly, still gently brushing at the curls in Celine's hair, "Lala has more ingenuity, cunning, and creativity than she shows on the surface, and I am not one to admit even I forget that sometimes." Nakajima wonders what that had to do with anything, but he knows that Rito had been friends with her longer than he had even been infatuated with Momo, he would obviously have had private experiences with the Devilukean princess he would rather not share. He also tries to ward off the improper thoughts that cross his mind following that reasoning, but at Nakajima's realization of Rito's character, he laughed that mental image off and poorly attempted to pass it off as a cough. "Anyway..." Rito begins again, clearly concerned, but choosing to ignore the odd bout, "If she really wanted to, she could gridlock any attempts by Lacospo to proposition her, ignore it like it was water rolling off a duck's back, and still somehow spin it to convince her father to throw Lacospo in chains into the deepest, darkest dungeon of Deviluke." Nakajima raised an eyebrow at that, but shrugs as Rito chuckles to himself.

Just as they settled in to a comfortable silence, dropping the subject, the _Lunatique_ 's electronic interface buzzed to life and appeared before Rito and Nakajima, shortly followed by a dismayed looking Kuro. "I am af-f-fraid the damage to my s-zz-ystems is more weightier than we th-thought," the computer drones out, its pixilated mouth frowning, "It appears necessary repairs must be made at the nearest Galactic Outpost available, until then s-zz-ublight s-zz-peeds will be impossible to achieve in vaster distances than a few pars-zz-ecs." The computer simulation then brings up a map of the galaxy, highlighting their current position within it via a blue dot, while another planet is highlighted in red.

"Unfortunately the only planet within range of a couple of jumps is, wait for it..." Kuro states extending out his hands in a jazzy motion, "Deviluke...tada?!" The awkward smile on the young looking assassin's face was priceless, but neither Rito nor Nakajima were laughing. "I know, I know, that isn't exactly ideal, but its the only place close enough to Earth from where we are that accepts and utilizes the Universal Healthcare system," Kuro states lamely, rubbing the back of his head and chuckling weakly, "But think of it this way, we'll cut out the stop in between and make sure we get to Deviluke to warn King Deviluke of his daughters forced marriage proposition!" Rito puts a hand to his forehead, a look of gloom passing over his face.

"I was hopping to be backed up by Nana and Momo..." Rito mutters into the floor, "And Golden Darkness, perhaps Mikado Sensei, definitely Mikan..." As Rito continues to mutter to the floor Nakajima and Kuro give him pitying glances, as they both back away from the sudden cloud of gloom that Rito is giving off. Rito looks up, his eyes white and face pale, like he had the life and color drained out of him. Suddenly out of nowhere he finds two little hands on his shoulder, along with increased weight that causes him to falter out of his gloom in surprise.

"Mau!" Celine states, having woken from her nap to find a gloomy Rito, "Mau!" She had found Rito's mood dwindling and with less than a moment of decision she knew he needed a hug. The effect was immediate, as Rito had paused in his melancholy to take in the smiling, cheerful child that had attached itself to him. "Papa, no worry," Celine states, as she snuggles deeper into Rito's shoulder, "Lala needs you." Rito smiled at the child's words, breaking from his sadness with a full smile.

"You're right Celine," Rito states in response, confidently, "Lala does need me, and If I wait any longer I will miss my chance!" He stands up dramatically, a fire burning in his eyes as he steels himself, turning to Kuro and Nakajima. "Okay then, we have a plan," Rito states, "We go to Deviluke, warn King Gid of everything, and save Lala!" His eye catches his new blade, resting against another console, and Rito clenches his hand. "Once we get Lala then we go after Creed, and get Zastin back," Rito states walking over to the sheathed sword and picking it up, clasping it to his hip with the belt Zastin had given him, "We aren't giving up just because we've had a few setbacks, we may hit a few walls, but we overcome them together." Kuro nods, and turns to the Lunatique computer interface.

"You're right, we are stronger together, so I think I can solve one of our dilemmas if I divert a few unnecessary systems," Kuro states, before looking over to Nakajima, "Hey, pass over the Dedial, Greenie." Nakajima looks confused for a second, before fumbling with the Dedial and then finally handing it off to Kuro. "If this works, then we can send a message to Nana's Dedial alerting them to everything that's going on," Kuro states as he prepares a message, "They can hopefully convince Mikado to let them borrow her ship, and we can all meet up on Deviluke and go from there." Rito walks up to Kuro's side and observes the former assassin at work.

"Are you sure this will work?" Rito asks the assassin, "I don't want to set us back even further, if you aren't one hundred percent sure it will work..." The assassin sighs as his finger hovers over the last button, and he turns to look straight into Rito's gaze.

"I'll be honest, Lala's technology is years beyond what the rest of the universe is using, I can't even be sure if its meant for long range two-way communication like this," the assassin states with sincerity, "But, knowing Lala, this will work, and the girls will be meeting up with us on Deviluke by tomorrow night, since their warp capable." Rito mulls it over in his head, then nods, allowing Kuro to make the call. "Activating Dedial..." Kuro states, hovering a finger over the last key and completing the dialing sequence, "Come on, come on..." The Lunatique's face is suddenly replaced with a static window, as the Dedial attempts to connect with its counterpart on Earth. Rito's hope begins to wane, as does the others, until it suddenly cuts to white, before colors begin to bleed in.

"Hello?" a familiar voice asks, as more of the screen focuses in, "Is someone there?" The voice is slightly scratchy due to static, until that clears, and the familiar face of Mikan shows through the screen. "Nana, I think it's working!" Mikan's voice states, as she looks away from the screen towards someone else, most likely said Deviluke Princess, "I think I see Rito and Kuro!" Suddenly a scuffle is heard from the other side, and in a blur of motion from the camera quality refocusing, the screen shows Nana and Momo both staring into the Dedial's camera, Mikan in the background nearby what appears to be part of Golden Darkness' ensemble.

"Rito!" Both Deviluke girls shout in amazement, "We were all starting to get worried about you!" Suddenly Momo comes to the forefront of the camera, nearly blocking everyone else.

"How is Celine? Did you find out how to fix your blade?" Momo asks her questions rapidly, "Did you all survive Mistletoe alright? Was Nakajima competent with my device... not that I care, or anything..." Momo blushes slightly as she trails off, before Nana pulls her back and gives her a look. Though the others were too busy to notice, Nakajima had blushed as well, Celine giggling cheekily at seeing the red painted across his nose.

"Enough sis, we can't hold the connection for much longer, so let them tell us why they contacted us using the Dedial!" nana states, as she turns to the screen, "Rito, what's going on, why aren't you contacting us through Zastin's ship?" Kuro nods to Rito, and the red head steps up to speak.

"Things happened that we'll have to tell you in person, we have the Lunatique, but she's in need of repairs at the nearest friendly port," Rito states bluntly and quickly, "We're actually pretty close to Deviluke, a day or so away really, so we need to land and make repairs; we want you to convince Mikado Sensei to use her ship and meet up with us there, we've lost a lot of time and need to get to Lala, fast!" Nana nods, though a look of concern crosses her face and she passes a glance between herself and Momo.

"Rito, that's actually what we're already doing," Nana states, "Anui- I mean, Big Sis, she's gone and invited us to come to Deviluke; she's actually expecting us to arrive tomorrow night." Nana steps aside, revealing the girls were actually already loaded into Mikado's spaceship, with Yami actually flying the ship, which explained why only part of her was visible from the cockpit. "She seemed sad when she heard you guys had gone off, we had told her you had been planning on coming back, but she seemed to be expecting you to be there with us," Nana states,a frown gracing her lips, "It was odd, really, she wouldn't tell us why she wanted us to come, we had just assumed you had already warned our Father, but she seemed to be unaware of your absence from Earth." Rito frowned at that feeling a phantom pain of guilt, having not been there to put her mind at ease.

"We'll meet with you at Deviluke," Mikan states, breaking in between the two sisters, before staring straight at her brother through the screen, "Don't you go all moping on us now, Rito, Lala can't be saved any faster that you're able." Rito looks up towards his sister, trying to smile for her. "If you go to Lala like that, I wouldn't be surprised if that slimy toad wins right now," she says, putting her arms on her hips and giving him a look, "What happened to that brother of mine who fought to save Rin Senpai, who kept Yami from cleaving the Earth in two, who fought so hard to make his choice correctly; so why instead do I see a man with the ability to change the universe, already believing he's lost?" The pep talk seemed to be working, as Rito's mood gradually improved.

"Rito, we're counting on you!" Momo states, holding a thumbs up with Nana, "Don't let Lala down!" Nana is smiling from the screen, as is Momo and Mikan, and Rito and the others can't help but smile in return. The screen then warbles, before cutting back to static, and eventually being replaced by the Lunatique's Avatar once more.

"Alright!" Rito states pumped up, he then shouts "To Deviluke!" The others cheer in return, though Rito's grin falters for just a moment as he ghosts his hand over the sword at his hip. "I'll- I'll be in the cargo bay if you need me," Rito states to the others, as he begins to move towards the back, "Contact me if anything comes up..."

* * *

When he reaches the cargo bay, he removes the sword from his hip and stares at the jewel in its hilt. He hadn't heard anything from Adam since he was transferred into the sword, yet it felt as if the recent dreams he has been having were the shared bond they seemed to still posses. He decides then that he needs to try and contact Adam, if he was to learn how to use this new sword properly and figure out what Adam knew of Creed Diskenth. The best way to go about that was to get closer to the sword, and so Rito found himself going after items Zastin had stored for him in the cargo bay for just such an occasion. Sitting down and assuming the meditative pose Zastin had taught him, he lays out his tools before him. He brings out a bottle with untranslatable script on it, a porous block of blackened rock, and a metallic, silky smooth rag emblazoned with the royal symbol of Deviluke, that he all sets in a line with a bowl of water he had acquired.

The bottle is full of a noxious liquid made up of various heavy elements that Rito knew very little of, and doubted were discovered on Earth at all, though its main ingredient was a mix of copper and platinum, something he did recognize. The sword needed very little care, really the act he was about to perform was unnecessary in every way possible, but the simple motions would bring Rito closer to the blade in its own way. Whetting the porous stone with the mineral oil, Rito began to perform slow back and forth motions on the sharp edge of the blade. Rhythmically he timed his strokes to his breathes, moving up and down the blade with the same precision Zastin had bored into him upon realizing the sword no longer posed a threat to him. It was Rito's hope that, while this cutlass was not the same sword he had become accustomed too, dare he say attached, he hoped by making a symbolic effort to attach himself to this blade, he could hasten Adam's return to the waking world. Finishing his task, Rito grabbed the fine cloth and began to wipe down the excess oil from the blade, making sure not to leave it to tarnish or rust the impossibly strong Orichalcum by a rookie misunderstanding of the metal. Dipping an unsullied corner of the blade in the bowl of water, he quickly shined and polished the remainder of the sword, before focusing on the gem and polishing it.

"I don't know if you can hear me, where ever you are Adam," Rito states, staring into the crimson ruby at the hilt, "I hope that you survived the experience, because right now I could use a friend to help understand the situation we now face." He sighs as he sets down the sword, deciding to clean up the tools instead. "They don't understand, even if I do save Lala we're letting Creed get further and further away from our grasp, letting our friend, one of Deviluke's greatest generals and Gid's friend, suffer under a madman's control," Rito states as he packs cleans the stone and packs it away, "He was my teacher, and if Creed was Bladix's original host, he's gained access to a dangerous weapon in the form of the body of the most self-disciplined warrior I have ever met; despite the setbacks he's had around me, I know he is as feared a warrior as Gid is, he just knows how to restrain himself." Suddenly Rito hears a chuckle, and looking around an empty cargo bay, he almost thinks its just a part of his imagination.

Finishing up his clean-up process, Rito once more goes for his blade, picking it up by the hilt. A cold shock seems to travel down his spine, leaving him paralyzed for the briefest of moments. When the feeling returns, Rito realizes he is already beginning to leak dark matter, a sure sign that his cells were becoming over saturated by the volatile material. Suddenly the cloud of shadow seems to dissipate, at first, before Rito realizes it is the red jewel in the hilt that is absorbing the material into itself. Rito then realizes that his shadow is beginning to lengthen of its own accord, and he feels a giddiness come over him as he watches something begin to ascend out of the darkness. "Very well, Rito Yuuki," Adam states, blonde hair poking up and out in a pale mirror of the original, eyes flaring with renewed power, vigor, and a smile, "If we are going to save your princess, and rescue your loyal friend from my predecessor's clutches, we're going to have to train until we reach Deviluke." In a moment the boy is as tall as Rito, a true mirror image, as a shadowy blade forms in his hand. "Are you ready to train harder than you ever have before, and risk becoming black and blue?" Adam asks his host, receiving a nod in response, "Very well then, let us begin."

 **A/N: And there we will conclude for the evening. I hope you enjoyed the short chapter, but once I reacquire some more inspiration, we'll be heading down the beginnings of the Wedding Arc. My, what surprises I have in store for you all!**


	38. Pirates and VIP(s)

**A/N: I do not own To Love-Ru.**

 _Lunatique_  
 _Nearing Deviluke_

Kuro is at the helm when the first alarm goes off, the sign that a local SOS was being broadcast from a nearby civilian transport. The former assassin made a split decision, after triangulating to see whether it was a false call or not, and called up the cargo bay where Rito was located. "Hey, Red, we're getting some strange readings from a nearby system, looks like there is a one-sided firefight going on," Kuro reports over the ships intercom system, "There aren't any GPD cruisers in the area, but the tag identifier the ship is broadcasting is stating its carrying VIP passengers from a couple of nearby systems, but there's one in the tag that might warrant our attention." As he is speaking Rito returns from the rear of the ship, a little tired looking and worse for wear, but he already making his way to the console Kuro was sitting.

"What's up?" Rito asks, looking at the former assassin, "Who could it be that would interest me?" Kuro patches in the comm system, and pulls up the distress beacon.

"Take a listen for yourself," Kuro states, "Here's their message." Hitting the activation key, the short message begins playing on a loop, and a familiar voice catches Rito's ears.

"This is Rin Kujou, Bodyguard to Saki Tenjouin of the Tenjouin Group, we're coming under fire from unidentified pirates," the voice of Rin Kujou broadcasts over the audio, "We're broadcasting to any Galactic Police ship in range, we're onboard a private civilian freighter, and our Captain and pilot were knocked unconscious when we were ambushed, please send help!" Rito grabs for the sword at his side, gripping its hilt tightly as he hears the words repeated on a cycle.

"What the heck is Tenjouin doing off of Earth?" Rito states redundantly, "There isn't any reason the Tenjouin Group should be out here, because Galactic Police still consider Earth's classification to be too low..." He turns to Kuro and the former bounty hunter/assassin is already pulling up their coordinates. "We need to save them, if the Lunatique is up to the task, and then we can figure out why they are out here," Rito says, turning to Nakajima and Celine, "Get Celine somewhere safe, then return to the bridge and ready the Dedial; we might have to retake that ship from pirates..." Nakajima nods and picks the young Plantasian up, who looks confused as the older boy goes to safely secure her in Yami's room. "Lunatique, how are our weapon systems looking?" Rito asks the AI, "Can we do much against these pirates?" It takes a second, but the AI pops up in front of Rito with an answer.

"Normally we would have more time -zz-, but yes-zz-, we can face them," the Lunatique responds, "Shields-zz- are at 78%, while weapns-zz- are at 56% capacity." The interface is replaced by a map of the ship, showcasing forward guns and rear turrets capable of popping out of the hull and useful in the upcoming fight. "I would not recommend direct engage-zz-ment, as I am built for hit-zz- and run," the AI states, "Transport is limited, but if their s-zz-hields are down, it will be eas-zz-y to send you over." Rito nods and pulls out his sword, black blade gleaming in the light.

"Good, Adam and I will be able to take out whoever is attacking Tenjou-sama, Aya-san, and Rin-san," Rito states, before he turns to Kuro, "Will you be able to deal with the pirate's ship, while Nakajima and I take out any boarders?" Kuro nods, and Nakajima returns to the bridge. "Nakajima, you and I are going to be boarding that ship, so I need you to prepare Momo's Dedial for use," Rito commands, "They might be armed, so see if you can find any plants that can be used from a further range, or maybe something to trip them up if they weren't paying attention." Nakajima nods and retrieves the Dedial from his pocket, already looking through the various species in its database.

"We can use Cannon Flowers to distract them from afar with their destructive force, since their seed pods are similar to their explosive Earthly cousins," Nakajima says, adjusting his glasses, "Then there's something called Dazuul Seeds, I think they're a fast growing creeper vine that grows on contact with anything it finds, just add enough force to crack the shell and instant pirate trap." Rito is nodding, happy Nakajima was quick thinking, and Nakajima smiles in return at his approval.

"We're coming in hot, people, so you might want to get a little bit away from me," Kuro states, "Lunatique, when we get close lock onto Rito and Nakajima, and send them over to the Tenjouin's ship!" The AI's interface nods, Rito and Nakajima both stand a bit further away from Kuro, and a bit closer together. As the ship suddenly warps into the system, the Pirate's battleship suddenly eclipses their view screen, "Pull up, pull up!" Kuro yells at the AI, desperately tugging at the ships controls to avoid colliding with the pirate ship and the weapons that seemed to be shooting at the civilian freighter, "Weapons fire, nine o'clock!" The ship swerves, scraping the side of the ship before pushing off and avoiding the weapons firing between the two ships. Kuro targets the main cannons that seemed to be firing off shots haphazardly, allowing them a few seconds of relief to pass by the freighter to drop Rito and Nakajima off. Rito and Nakajima were both ready, and Kuro nods as he activates the short range teleport, transferring the two men to the ship.

 **()(OoOoO)()**

 _Civilian Transport_  
 _Lower Decks_

Rito and Nakajima materialize inside the ship, thankfully in an empty hallway. "Do you have some Dazuul Seeds ready?" Rito asks Nakajima, who lifts up a small bag in response, "Good, I'd rather try and capture them before resorting to fighting, we don't know who else could be in this ship besides the Pirates and Tenjouin-san." Nakajima nods, as Rito readies his blade for anything, before deciding the best way to find out where to go, was to move towards the front of the ship. "Look for an elevator, or transport tubes, or some kind of ladder between decks," Rito states, as they travel up the hall, "One of them might lead to the ship's bridge, where Saki-san, and Rin-senpai are!" Nakajima nods as he follows along, Dedial in hand as while his other hand holds a Dazuul seen at the ready. As their walking past yet another closed door, Rito and Nakajima both jump when they here it open, both turning to see anything past the balckness of the unlit room. Both sigh in relief when nothing seems to move beyond the doorway, figuring it was just an automatic response from an unlocked door.

As they go to turn around and move along, the sudden hissing from behind them causes both teens to freeze, Nakajima peeking over his shoulder to see the source of the noise. He almost jumps out of his skin when he sees something that walked straight out of the Gray Lagoon. An amphibious fish-man, with eyes glaring red giving the feeling of murderous intent within them, face flaring with crests that look like fish fins. Its webbed fingers are outstretched towards both Rito and Nakajima, and then Nakajima realizes just how too close he is to the monster. Nakajima doesn't even process his fear, rather he tosses the seed in his hand to the floor underneath the monster, and the seed cracks as soon as it lands. Suddenly the quick growing vines encircle and ensnare the alien, wrapping around it and even cracking the armor it seemed to be wearing. The feminine squeal coming from the alien was unexpected, and Nakajima stepped back along with Rito to take it all in.

They both took in her spotted face, and Rito realized that she looked like a Lion-fish with her spiny fins puffed out, and some sort of breathing apparatus on her face left her looking larger than she actually was. She actually looked more human than fish in the face, smooth skin and a feminine bone structure behind her face, though she seemed more androgynous in the lower body, the stocky form they had mistook her to have was revealed to be some form of workers overalls with steel plating improvised into armor. Nakajima was left blushing as he realized that the armor she had been wearing was actually a workers overalls with the ships sigil stitched into it, and the vines seemed to be creeping into inappropriate places as it grew. The red blush on her face made it super uncomfortable to watch, and Rito swiftly cut into the vines to release her from their trap. "I'm so sorry, you surprised us and we thought you were pirates," Rito blushes furiously as he helps strip the woman of the vines, "We heard the distress call and we came to help, you just surprised us when you came up behind us like that!" The woman looks up at him with a look of confusion and annoyance, before she rights herself and attempts to get up with a hand from Nakajima, a tail like a tadpole's swishing behind her now unencumbered by the ripped overalls.

"Are you okay?" Nakajima asks, with concern on his face, "We truly are sorry for-" He was brushed off as the alien girl turns and goes back into the room they had passed, the door closing behind her. "Should we wait for her?" Nakajima asks, turning to Rito, who has an equally confused look on his face, "I hope we didn't offend her..." Suddenly the door opens up again, and once more the alien walks out in an outfit much like the previous one, though it seems to lack the heavy armor, giving her a slimmer, more fitting body style to what they had seen. The woman gave them both a glance over, before opening her mouth to speak, before she stops in confusion. The breathing apparatus was clear, and both Rito and Nakajima were able to see her mouth, yet it seemed she could not communicate with them, as they watched her emit bubbles from her mouth and knock on the apparatus in annoyance. A crease in her row, she seems to give up trying to make her device work, instead turning to stare and glare at Nakajima and Rito intently, before beginning to gesture with her hands. The two give each other confused looks, as she wildly moves her hands repeatedly in growing annoyance. Finally the woman just slaps a hand to her forehead, then grabs Ritos free hand, and pulling him closer to her.

Instantly Rito feels uncomfortable at the closeness, but the woman seems determined to get him to watch the gestures. Rito suddenly realizes she is, in fact, repeating motions and trying to convey an idea, and in a moment his eyes seem to glow a deep purple as he fixates on her movements, before returning to their golden color. "Are you trying to speak with us?" he asks, turning his eyes upwards to meet hers, and in an instant her facial expression changes to a brighter one, "Ok, ok, I think I understand now, since you must have some kind of translator malfunction, you've got some form of sign language going on.. please, try it again now!" The woman quickly begins making fast gestures, almost too quick for his eyes to comprehend them.

" _Ineedyout-urryu-ndgetme-ot-bridge,_ " the woman signs, " _Pirates-b-amne-hosefoo-can't-ilot-is-hip-_ " She signs at a dizzying pace, words flowing in a jumble in his head, despite the fact he shouldn't be able to understand.

"Whoa, whoa!" Rito states, grabbing her arms gently and forcing her to stop, "I can understand your intentions, but you're going to fast, I can't comprehend what you are saying!" She widens her eyes, a light blush seeming to form again, but she removes her wrists from his grasp and begins to sign once more, albeit at a slower, more reasonable pace.

" _I need you to hurry and get me to the bridge,_ " she signs, " _Pirates be damned if those fools upstairs can't pilot this ship._ " She then motions them to follow her, and Rito watches her fingers fly as he keeps in step with her. " _I was working on fixing the engines, since those pirates set up a blasted quantum mine in this asteroid field, which knocked out power for a few moments before auxiliary kicked in,_ " she signs, " _This ship wasn't properly manned and the ships Captain was also its Engineer; when the pirates ambushed us he was the first to get knocked out, so I made my way down here to get shields and engines up and running_." They stop at a ladder, and she points upwards at a hatch that seems to be closed, and Rito focuses on her once more. " _Everything got sealed when I restored power, and this manual hatch is the only other way to the bridge, three floors up,_ " She signs, before Rito motions for Nakajima to start climbing, " _There's a pirate crew I locked in the next floor up, if your friend there uses those Dazuul Vines, we can incapacitate them and head to the bridge where Saki Tenjouin and her servants are located, and also where the Captain and the Pilot are unconscious._ "

"Be careful, it sounds like there are pirates beyond that doorway," Rito states to Nakajima, who nods in return, straining to open the lock with both his hands, "She says the Dazuul Seeds may be necessary to incapacitate them." She taps Rito on the shoulder, and he turns to focus on what she has to say now.

" _Be careful, one of their men was a cha-_ " she starts to sign before a large creaking and thunk forces Rito's nerves to look toward the source of the sound, which was Nakajima unlocking the hatch between the two levels, and he turns back to the woman as she impatiently tries to get his attention.

"I'm sorry, but I need to help my friend, if what you say is true and there are pirates," Rito states, as he puts his hands on her shoulders, "I'll be right back, and then we can talk more once the pirates are dealt with." He then tears away from her and goes to follow up after Nakajima, who was shimming up through the hatch and pulling himself into the next floor. Rito pulls himself up to the top, when he sees a hand offered to him through the hatch. He takes it, and finds himself quickly being pulled up and onto the next floor with ease. He goes to thank Nakajima, but sees that the person who helped him up was not in fact the green haired teen, but in fact a very familiar, busty, brown eyed brunette by the name of Rin Kujou. "Senpai!" he addresses his older, former classmate, with a smile, "When I heard your distress call, I figured you and the others would have still been locked up in the main cabin." He smiles as he looks around the empty hallway behind her, to see where the pirates where. "Are Saki-san and Aya-san still up there?" he asks as he studies his sisters kendo instructor, "Did you already lock up all of those pirates without me?"

"R-Rito, I don't think that's R-Rin," Nakajima says unsteadily from somewhere behind him, causing him to begin to turn, "She's an impos-" Nakajima doesn't even get to finish his sentence before he was knocked out cold, much to the surprise of Rito as he takes the scene in before him. A couple of unfamiliar aliens were holding Nakajima by the arms, both looking disheveled and a little bit crazy with the smiles they were sharing. "Rin-senpai, are they a part of your crew?" Rito asks unsteadily, his suspicion growing as he tries not to let his uncertainty show, "Rin, where are Saki and Aya?" He turns to find the most hideous on this imposters face, one that forces her smile to wide, and her eyes just seem empty and distant as she pulls the wooden sword she always carried from its place on her back. "Alright, yeah, I see Nakajima is correct, you aren't Rin-senpai," Rito states, as he pulls his own sword free, a small twitch on the imposters face betraying their hesitation, "I'll give the three of you a warning then, since I don't know any of you that means I don't have to hold back, I suggest you surrender now before anyone comes to harm." The two behind him just laugh, while fake-Rin just stares creepily in his direction, leveling her sword at him.

"Very well," Rito simply states as he closes his eyes to concentrate, "You'll be great practice if I'm ever going to face a living opponent." He sends a slight charge of dark matter into his sword and body, feeling his muscles both tense and loosen in a contraction. The effect creates a visible aura between wielder and the sword, and though Rito could not see it as he opened his eyes, to the imposter it was as if the teens golden eyes had gained rings of purple around his irises. He takes a breath and smiles as he feels Adam vibrate in his hand, no doubt due to the power boost he just received. Rito raised his blade, as the imposter mimics his movements with their own, and in one swift move Rito pushes off towards the Rin imposter. Careful not to kill, Rito dodges their poor down thrust and deflects it with ease, forcing them to be knocked back with the enhanced strength he was now using, though they land with merely a grimace. Once again they raise their blade, and Rito stands upright, taunting them with his free hand to come to him. They fall for the bait, hook, line, and sinker, and as they sloppily rush to strike him with a downward thrust, he parries and uses their momentum to throw them off balance, forcing them to carry through and expose their back to his reach.

With a simple and clean hit from the flat of the blade, the illusion is dispelled, and Rito watches the imposter lose their balance and fall flat on their face. The imposter was revealed to be another alien figure, small, and in some kind of a high tech suit that gave them larger body proportions. The figure stirs a memory in his mind of the first time he had ever met Kuro, and Rito realizes what the girl was trying to warn her of. He was a shape shifter, a chamelonoid alien, much like the spy Khameleon that had infiltrated Saki Tenjouin's chalet years prior. He then turned his attention to the others holding Nakajima, turning his gaze to the two with a dead serious look on his face. "So, since you can see your friend didn't fair any better against me, do you give up?" He asks the two, who drop Nakajima and hold their hands up in terror, "Boo.." In seconds the two turn tail and run, scrambling and falling over each other as they try and run, only for Nakajima to grab some Dazuul seeds and toss them after the two, ensnaring them and keeping them from becoming problems later. Rito grabs a seed for the other alien, and turns to find him wiggling out of the suit and trying to run away. Sighing he tosses the seed and ensnares the alien in more vines. "Honestly," Rito says, dispelling the dark matter from his sword and absorbing the rest into his body, "Nakajima, are you all right?"

The green haired teen stretches, holding his head and feeling a forming lump on it. "One of those two hit hard, but I think I'll manage," Nakajima reports, "What about our mysterious friend down below, should we help her get up here now?" Seconds later their new friend made her own decision, as the woman suddenly pulls herself up from the hatch and stares at the two friends and then at the captured pirates. She then begins to sign once more, and Rito focuses on her hand gestures.

" _Good, I do not have to kill either of you now, since you caught the shape shifter,_ " she signs, and Rito raises an eyebrow at that, but he watches her continue, " _The rest of the journey should be easy, if we can make it to the bridge before the ship is critically hit by weapons fire._ " At this she begins moving further forward to another ladder and hatch, followed quickly by Rito and Nakajima.

"Wait, please, you never even told us your name!" Rito states as he follows the woman to the next junction, almost tripping and falling onto her as she comes to a sudden and unexpected stop, "Whoa!" The women turns and gives him a curious look, before nodding and signing again.

" _I apologize, I guess the matters at hand do seem more urgent, but let us be quick in our pleasantries,_ " she signs, as she motions to herself then Rito and Nakajima, " _I am called Adrisin, in the language of your people, what are your names?_ " Rito looks to Nakajima and then turns back to Adrisin, motioning to the green haired boy.

"This is Nakajima, he's a second year student of Sainan High School, and my junior," Rito introduces his not-quite friend, "He's currently utilizing Devilukean technology to access a friends personal plant arsenal, which is why we had access to the Dazuul Seeds we used to capture the pirates." He then points to himself and Adam in turn before speaking again. "My name is Rito Yuuki, I'm from the planet Earth, and I'm a third year student at Sainan, and this is Adam, he's a sentient Orichalcum weapon," Rito states with a smile, "I'm on a quest to rescue my girlfriend and prospective wife, Lala Satalin Deviluke, from the clutches of a slimy little toad named Lacospo, of whom he is forcing her to marry." The woman has a slight reaction to that sentence, but Rito figures it is just the fact that he knows the Princess of Deviluke, and is calling her his prospective wife, that causes the reaction.

" _V-very well,_ " she signs with uncertain gesture, " _That is...quite a lot to take in all at once, but I believe you._ " She then motions them to follow as she moves up the ladder. Rito watches as the girl begins to climb the ladder, and avoids the tail swinging down as she ascends, until he begins to blush once she reaches the top. Nakajima notices Rito's hesitation and almost certainly begins to follow, until Rito grabs him firmly by the shoulder and the younger boy takes in the stony, almost gloomy look that Rito is giving off.

"Just- don't, wait until she clears the top," Rito states as he looks Nakajima in the eye, before quickly glancing up to see her tail disappear over the open hatch, "There, now you can go." He releases his grip, causing Nakajima to wonder just what it was that caused him to freak out like that all of a sudden, but he brushes it off and begins to climb. He begins to ascend with Rito following closely behind.

 **()(OoOoO)()**

 _Bridge_

Saki Tenjouin stood at the helm of an unfamiliar vessel, stranded and helpless in a floating coffin, as pirates battled around the ship for their prize,like vultures descending on a fresh carcass, they were after the fresh kill and all it contained within it. That meant the billionaires daughter, her two friends, an unconscious Captain and Pilot with a ship full of trade goods and gifts being delivered to Deviluke, and a few VIP delegates, who were now locked in their cabins for their own safety, all heading to Deviluke for the same reason. Saki looked to the defiant Rin, then to the cowering Aya, who was watching through the same viewing screen as she was, at the firefight going on outside between the pirates and the new ship. The pirates had been doing massive damage to the private transport, but when that new ship arrived, nearly slipping the pirates own side, it had steadily been gaining ground and causing noticeable damage to the pirates. She was sure that the pirates would be forced to retreat soon, as they had been too slow to catch the nimble, smaller ship in their attacks, and it was scoring hits time and again.

"Do you think they're here to rescue us?" Aya asks, turning to her blonde leader, "I mean, maybe they heard our distress call and came to help us?" Saki wishes that were true, but the colorations weren't GPD standard, nor were they friendly by the tones of black and gray, not to mention the weapon arsenal seemed a little bit too illegal to be a friendly ship. Suddenly the firefight seemed to dwindle, causing Saki to shift her attention from her friends to the scene outside. The pirate ship seemed to have stopped attacking the smaller ship, and was slowly turning away from the transport, up until she watched it warp away from the system. She would have felt like cheering, if it wasn't for the fact she felt that whoever was piloting that raider, it wasn't friendly by any means.

Saki waited for the firing to start up again, carving away at the hull to expose the cargo to the vacuum, like the pirates had been doing when they attacked, cutting away at the hull to expose it and make it easier to loot. But the hits never came, and the ship seemed to stop, hanging their motionlessly as it matched their course and speed, adrift as they were. Suddenly the red button that signaled they were getting a response to their message began to blink, and for the first time Sake may have felt a little hope. Rin looked to her employer and friend for the word to bring it up, and a nod is all she needs to open up the audio channels to allow two-way communication. "This is Saki Tenjouin, the Pilot and Captain are unavailable right now," Saki states over the carrier waves, "May I ask the name of the person who saved us, and ask what it is you want." Saki was expecting a ridiculous demand in response, but the laughter she got in response was shocking to all three women onboard.

"Nice to hear you still are a stick in the mud, Tenjouin," a voice crackles to life over the speakers, ringing in the cobwebs at the edge of her memory, "You can thank Rito Yuuki that we were in the area, though it makes me wonder why you didn't hitch a ride on Mikado's ship with the rest of the girls." Saki widens her eyes at this, wondering who it was that knew who she was, and how they knew Yuuki Rito.

"Who is this?" Saki demands, "How do you know me, and how do I know you really are a friend of Yuuki Rito, and not just some pirate with good information?" She hears chuckling again, before the voice answers her.

"The names Kuro, though you might remember me better as the guy who invaded your Chalet a year or two back, their was a shape shifter named Khameleon I was hunting," Kuro states, "I'm in Golden Darkness', Yami's ship, the Lunatique?" The name sounded familiar, and she remembered the gothic lolita that had gorgeous hair and a penchant for being a target of Rito's perverted acts. She frowned, she still didn't want to believe him, since she still couldn't remember him, and she debated how she could be really sure he was who he said he was. "I'm taking it by your silence that you don't believe me still?" he says, startling Saki into the realization she had been quite for too long, "Don't worry, Rito should be coming up there any minute now, he boarded the ship with one of your juniors, so he should be taking care of those pesky pirates that invaded your hold." She almost didn't want to believe him, until she heard the emergency hatch beginning to open, and she turned to see Rin drawing her practice sword and readying it to strike at whomever came through.

Saki almost wanted to cry tears of joy at seeing a spiky mop of orange hair come up through the hatch, golden eyes sparkling in relief and joy at having found the three girls, followed by a green haired boy that Saki recognized as one of those V.M.C. losers that hung around one of Lala's sisters, and then a face she wasn't expecting that followed suit. She quickly helped the last of the three in, and she bit her lip in anxiety as she focused on the girl, who had quickly found the unconscious Pilot and Captain. She almost spoke up, but the words died in her throat as the woman began to gesture wildly, and she watched as Rito seemed to pay attention to every detail with keen interest.

"She's asking you if you think there are any herbs or plants with revival properties in them, something to aid in their healing?" Rito states, looking straight at Nakajima, "Anything to wake them up?" Saki watches in awe, alongside Aya and Rin, as the boy brings out a pone like object and begins to scan through it.

"Here, here!" Nakajima suddenly shouts, pulling something up and showing it on the phone to Rito, "The Crystal Hartshorn lily, a rare variety of the Corpse lily that grows in the ammonia fields of Capris." He seems to be messing with the phone for a moment, until he slides his finger from the phone up, and a crystallized flower seems to appear out of nowhere and in a clay pot. "Break off one of their petals and wave it under their nose," Nakajima states, as he breaks a small chunk off and goes to the Pilot, "The chemical process begins to deteriorate almost as suddenly as you pluck a petal, because it decays faster in an oxygen based atmosphere as strong as ours." Rito does likewise with another petal, waving it under the Captain's nose. After a few seconds the crystal petals seem to have done their job, crumbling in their hands as the Captain and the Pilot both groan, signaling they were waking up, albeit too slow for her taste.

While Saki had been observing the two earth men at work, she turned to see what the alien woman was up to. She was happy to see that the woman was merely standing off to the side pointing to places on her breathing apparatus at which Aya, using a tool she had retrieved from a medical kit, was fiddling with in rapid succession. The heiress took the initiative to then walk over to where her friend and the female passenger were, determined to figure out just what was going on that warranted her presence. "Miss, I see that while Aya is working on your translation circuits, I have a few questions for you," Saki states to the frog woman, who flicks her eyes in Saki's direction and gives a soft nod of approval, "May I ask why you were not under lock down with the others, why you are dressed in that hideous uniform, and why you were with that pervert Rito Yuuki and his... friend?" Saki knows she doesn't mean for it to sound as rude or condescending as it sounds, and she hopes that the woman doesn't take any offense at it. Aya moves a way as she finishes up, which causes Adrisin to feel around her throat, as if by reflex she was massaging it as though it were sore.

" _R-rito Yuuki-_ " Adrisin begins, flexing the hasty modifications to her translator like one would test a their voice after having lost it, "Has been nothing but a kind, resourceful soul, despite easily understandable misgivings during our first... encounter." She quickly glances over at a sheepish Rito, before refocusing on Miss Tenjouin. "I would properly thank him if we had the time, but we have other matters to worry about," Adrisin states, a serious look crossing her face as she gently shoves Aya and Rin away from the control panels, and begins to bring up scans of the star system. "Currently your friend in the other ship has chased our Pirate problem away for now, but unless we get fresh plasma generated for the warp manifold, we'll all be dead when they return with more ships," she states as she looks towards Rito, "Can your ship spare any of the necessary components we'd need to get a fresh infusion into our engines manifold?"

Rito doesn't know what to say, and he looks over to Nakajima, who shrugs in response as he is just as confused by all this space stuff as he was. Suddenly the crackling of static comes back on, and Kuro decides to pitch his two cents. "I think the _Lunatique_ can spare a liter or three, but we need some ourselves still to keep our own engines running," he states from the _Lunatique'_ s bridge, "We don't really need to make anymore jumps since we're just barely outside of Devilukean space, that means we can get inside their borders and then flag down a carrier to finish our transit, since we're all a bunch of VIP's, yeah?" Adrisin's eyes brighten at that, and she smiles upon hearing the good news.

"And since we'll be in sovereign territory, no pirate would be foolish enough to engage us, especially not when it comes to the Deviluke Empire," Adrisin states, nodding along, turning to Rito, "So, kind sirs, as a favor to your friends, myself, and the other VIP's heading for Deviluke, will you do us the honor of being our escorts and deterrent towards any more pirate ambushes?" Rito smiles as he mock bows in response.

"I believe, madam, that you have us strange bedfellows as your guides," Rito states, putting Adam away and smiling, "To Deviluke then." He looks through the window into open space, where the _Lunatique_ hangs in the sky. "Alright Kuro, transport Nakajima and myself back over, then get to work preparing whatever it is you need to get this ship flying again." A chuckle from the other side is heard, and Rito smiles when he feels the familiar sensation displacing his molecules back onto the bridge of Yami's ship.

"All aboard, ' _Captain_ ', though a little monkey seems to be wanting to see you," Kuro chuckles as Celine appears, peeking out from behind the chair, before Nakajima appears next to him, "Now, Nakajima, how about you help me get the transport containers ready, so we can get their ship a fresh infusion of plasma." Nakajima is quickly pulled away before he can utter any protest, and Rito is left alone with Celine.

Rito quickly kneels down to Celine's level, and he motions for her to come closer, which she does as she snuggles under his arm. "I thought you were supposed to stay in your room, it was safe there," he admonishes the young girl, "We wanted you to be safe, and I'd hate to think you could have gotten in Kuro's way, even though I know you must have been scared by all the fighting." The girl shakes her head, and Rito raises an eyebrow in puzzlement.

"I was afraid for you... mau," Celine states, "Papa, you are my only Papa, and I don't want you gone like Mama Lala, mau!" The girl's eyes are brimming with tears, as Rito feels a cold splash of reality on his face. She was practically his child, she loved him and Mikan as her father and mother, but this was the first time he had ever heard her voice worry over Lala. She had always seemed to be more friendly around Lala, yet she always went to Mikan or Mikado Sensei when problems arose, even Rito himself on occasion, but he always thought Celine viewed Lala as a friend, even a sister, more than her 'mama'.

"I- I'm glad you're safe," Rito states hugging Celine back, trying not to cry at her personal revelation to him, "I'm safe too, and now we'll make sure Lala gets home, and we can all be happy again, won't that be nice..." He looks out to the stars through the viewing port, and imagines one of them must be Deviluke. He would be there soon, and he will save his bride-to-be, no matter what.

 _ **(LalaLalaLalaLala)**_

 _Deviluke_

Lala stared at her reflection in the three sided mirror, standing with the poofy, white dress held up against her chest. Gripping the material with bare-white knuckles, she doesn't realize how hard it was to be flooded with the memories surrounding this monstrosity of a dress. The train was practically ten feet long, the tiara had material that bunched up so much, it was basically like she had a small cloud suspended from her head, and the dress, while stylish at the time, was two years old and a few sizes two small in certain areas. And yet the memories of Rito, sweating and exhausted from her father's nearly impossible challenge, being forced into a tuxedo and defying all their expectations that day... It reminded her of the love she was giving up on, making her feel like she was betraying a man who, as far as she knew was still searching after her, even if he hadn't made it to her yet. She only prayed he would be too late, or else she would break down before any plans could be laid, concrete or otherwise. And while right now the risk outweighed the benefit, she had loftier goals envisioned to ensure that her lover, her choice of Future King of Deviluke, would be unquestionable and unchallenged.


	39. Wedding Plans and Pearls

**A/N: Still don't own To Love-Ru, but I'd like to thank everyone whose been sticking with me through this story! Thank you very much, and I hope you continue to enjoy my story. Now, onward into the story...**

 _Devilukean Space_

The _Lunatique_ glided silently through the darkness of space, moving swiftly through it alongside the transport they had intercepted, containing other VIP's heading for Deviluke as well. Among them was Saki Tenjouin and her entourage, who had been invited to Deviluke along with several others for some important reason. They hadn't really informed Rito as to what it was yet, but then again neither had Momo or the others known when they had gotten into contact with them. Rito quickly moved through the space port, flanked by a royal guard that had been sent to escort them at King Deviluke's request, followed by Nakajima and a rushed Celine. Kuro was intent on staying behind and fixing the _Lunatique_ personally, lest he gain the ire of Golden Darkness, bidding them farewell as they disembarked hurriedly into the growing darkness of the paling sunset and darkening sky.

Rito was happily escorted to a private transport the royal guard had acquired to expedite them through the vast and complex streets and checkpoints that seemed to be at every gate, wall, and entry. This sent alarms up in Rito's head, as the heavy presence of security and safety seemed to go against the thoughts that this planet was the capital of an empire, one that stretched over vast dominions with little resistance and a strong King to back them up. Whatever would cause them to put this much security detail into place, was something that was obviously very important, and the reason various political and important people, entities, and merchants of all sorts seemed to be pouring into the capital and heart of the Deviluke Empire. Had Rito foolishly tried to make his way to the head of this planet, he would of no doubt been incarcerated without the escort the king had provided. Upon seeing the city seem to transform, the deeper they went into the planet's capital, the more it seemed to transform before his very eyes. Slowly crowds seemed to thin as they passed through many, various gates and checkpoints, until Rito found himself seeing what Lala had described to him as her childhood home. The kingdom of Deviluke, its castle, was much more daunting and impressive as Rito felt himself enter the shadow it cast, despite the various lights that seemed to be embedded within its walls. It almost seemed more alive, as if an air of happiness and festivity were upon it, though Rito figured that it was just in his mind.

Surely the arrival of their Princess and her forcible suitor would no doubt be the talk of the kingdom, would it not be unreasonable to expect sadness, some gloomy pallor hanging in the air, even a bit of oppression, or hopelessness? Yet flowers seemed to be blooming and setup on every streetlight and lamppost they passed, banners and signs of an event being carried out that night, some sort of ball from the cursory glances he could get from the speeding vehicle. Yet as they pulled into some sort of bay or garage, and disembarked inside the castle's walls, Rito felt a growing chill on his neck as everything seemed to be normal. That was when Celine hugged him close, Nakajima equally looking around confused as they were directed to a nearby room. A female servant, barely older than Lala or himself stood outside the doorway, casing Rito to be a little hesitant at what was going on. "It's a changing room, sir," the brown haired girl states, a smile on her lips as she kneels down to take a look at Celine with her vivid cerulean eyes, "You see the King is holding a feast for the three Princess' return to Deviluke, and we have been provided clothes for yourself and your servant, while I escort the little miss to where the other girls are." She stands and bows in front of Rito, before standing straight up and holding out an envelope for him to take. "Her highness, Princess Lala regrets that she could not extend this invitation to you personally, sir, but she herself must prepare for the feast," She smiles once more as Celine timidly walks over and takes the woman's hand, "Do not worry, I have strict instruction to turn this little one over to your sister, lady Mikan, where she will join the other ladies at their dining establishment; you likewise have assigned seating on the back of your invitation, please give it to the steward so he may announce your arrival." With the barest of curtsies, the woman has swept Celine away, and left Rito and Nakajima to their own preparations.

"Well, it seems like we should do as they ask," Nakajima states, crossing his arms in thought, "Though I do hope I am not forced to wear anything humiliating, since that woman basically called me your lackey..." Rito nods, then looks to the envelope with silver engravings spelling out his name. He would have to open this and figure out just what exactly it was that Lala wanted him to do, surely she gave him more than a simple invitation.

"Go on ahead, Nakajima, you can change first," Rito states, looking back at his junior, "I wish to read this privately, then I'll join you in getting ready." The younger boy nods and walks into the room provided them, closing the door behind him, but not locking it so as to allow Rito access to the room. With satisfaction that he was alone apart from Adam, Rito quickly slipped a finger under the fold and opened it to reveal its contents. Slipping it out of the envelope, he begins to read the silvery words cut into the paper. After finishing it, checking it twice, then looking to the back, with trembling hands Rito replaces the card into its envelope and coldly enters the room to prepare for this evening.

 _A While Later..._  
 _The Ballroom Entrance_

After twenty minutes of wandering the hallways, lost in the sprawling complex, both Nakajima and Rito were directed by a maid towards the dining hall and ballroom area, where the rest of the occupants of the feast where already gathering. While Rito was somber and distracted as he walked in pace with his junior, Nakajima found himself tugging at the uncomfortable clothing he had been given, which were just a tad bit small around his neckline and other areas. It was obviously servants clothes, though, and while he felt a little indignant that he was delegated to the role of servant, he was able to put up with it as it was only for the night. Though he did feel concern for Rito, as the usually cheerful teen had been so insistent on arriving here to save Lala, and he had been provided better clothing than Nakajima's own. Rito, had in fact, found himself wearing a variation of the tuxedo that had been provided to him in his averted, impromptu wedding to Lala, though the colors of the tuxedo and the lapel pin had been changed to black and red respectively, rather than the marriage colors it had been when he originally wore the clothing. And unlike Nakajimas clothing, it seemed to be tailor fitted for him, despite having grown since the last time he was measured; even a belt to hold his sword was provided for him.

Finally they found the doors to the ballroom and banquet hall, both tall and impressively carved out of ancient wood and filled with grand designs that stretched from ceiling to floor. Each had a guard at their side, as well as a Devilukean man in servants clothes that was obviously their greeter who would announce them and show them to their seats. Mutely Rito steps forward and brandishes the invitation, the black haired man nodding as he took it, giving it a once over to memorize the details he would announce, before looking at their seat provisions and giving them a glance. "Very well, I welcome you lord Rito to Deviluke, your servant may join you at your dining table per Lady Momo's request," he gives a crisp look towards a nervous, indignant, and blushing Nakajima, before continuing, "I will now announce you to the dining hall, then you may take your place at the seventh table on your left, you are guests at the Princess' table, so be wary of how you act." Rito nods, as does Nakajima, before the man is satisfied and motioning for the guards to open the massive doors.

Walking inside and stopping behind the man, as he steps forward to face a large crowd of delegates and guests from a vast array of alien cultures. "Now announcing lord Rito Yuuki, Champion of Earth, Wielder of the Ninth Blade of Chronos, defender of Earth and chosen marriage candidate of Princess Lala Satalin Deviluke, and his guest," the man says as he steps aside, revealing Rito first with Nakajima trailing just a step behind, to the loud whispers and alien chatter, "As the final guest has now arrived, may you all be seated and enjoy your dinner." With that Rito and Nakajima are swept inside,and before too long the massive doors close behind them. Realizing Rito wasn't going anywhere, Nakajima gave him a subtle push that caused his brain to catch up with whatever it was he had been thinking about. Now they both headed for their seat, passing the long, whispering tables and the glares that Nakajima couldn't shake, until they saw the table containing both twin princess' and the remainder of the Yuuki household and friends.

Rito's mood seemed to change at seeing Mikan and Celine dressed in extravagant gowns filled with lace and bows, colors complementing them gracefully and not clashing. Nana and Momo both rise with concern on their faces as they greet Rito chastely with a hug each, Momo lingering just a moment to murmur something in Rito's ear, but it seemed to do nothing but cause Rito to lose his smile once more. Nakajima quickly found a seat between Yami and Nana, while Rito takes a spot between his sister and Momo. Nakajima notes that others had seemingly joined them on their flight, as Mea, Yui, and Saruyama were there seated behind Yami and Celine, while Nemesis was strangely absent from the group. Rito looks to Momo and Nana, who both seem to be staring at him as he stares straight ahead at the empty placement before him on the table. Nakajima is about to ask Yami or Nana what was going on, when from the foremost table in the room, King Gid stood up from his seat.

"Greetings, all of you," Gid's voice booms as he slowly stares around the room, "I thank you for answering our summons so quickly, but the reasons we have to share with you this night will be answered soon, for now I suggest we forgo unnecessary worry, and eat!" He motions to a servant standing at a nearby set of doors, before trolley's and carts of food and drink suddenly appear from behind the doors and are wheeled to various tables to deposit dishes with sterling silver covers, before goblets of clear glass or crystal are placed on tables and filled with a variety of juices, drinks like water, and choice wines from the personal wine cellars of the kitchen's stock. The hustle and bustle made Rito forget about the day, and when the food came to their table it was deposited with practiced ease. When it came to drinks, most chose water or juice imported from Earth, though Yami partook of the wine as she was of age, and Rito chose the Devilukean juice that Nana and Momo recommended to him. Shortly after the lids were removed, Rito found himself looking at a dish that seemed to be inspired from Earth cuisine, as did everyone else at the table.

"We ensured the food wouldn't be too strange for your tastes, since most of the other delegates requested specialty foods as well," Nana went on to explain as she picked at the vegetables and other sides on her plate, "Though the ingredients are fairly alien to your planet, they were found to be the most edible foods that we could acquire on short notice." Mikan merely thanked Nana and Momo both, as did the others who agreed whole heartedly before digging in. Rito on the other hand seemed to listlessly play with his food, before a kick in the knee from his sister causes him to realize he was not eating, and he begins to enjoy the now cold meal. He takes a few sips of his juice, and it seems to dull the cold chill he had been feeling, warming him up from the inside and allowing him to return a little bit of a smile to his face. Once he and the others were done with their meal, it appeared as if everyone's plates were then taken away, and the room was hushed as they waited for whatever was to come next.

Suddenly the King of Deviluke finished his goblet and stood up to address the crowd. "Well, now that our hearts are a little bit more receptive, and the moods lifted with the food, I believe it is time for you all to hear the news you were invited here to learn of," Gid states, as he steps over to the seat where his eldest daughter is sitting, just a few over from his, "As I am finding myself getting older, I know it is time to establish a legal heir to my kingdom, and it is my greatest... pleasure to announce that my eldest Daughter, who I have been setting up matches with, has decided this night to announce her decision to all gathered here tonight!" Gid encourages her to stand up, as the embers of whispers and chatters, flurry into a fiery frenzy of excitement. It quiets down as the eldest daughter now moves to stand from her seat and her father returns to his seat.

She nervously clears her throat as she scans the room, going from left to right, all the way up until her eyes glance over to the final table where her sisters are seated, and her eyes glance over everyone until they latch onto Rito for the briefest of moments, before glancing away with scarlet blushing her cheeks. "I-I have f-finally come to the decision,after numerous attempts at coercion, blackmail, attempts on my life or prospective partner, that I must make a choice and finally end this senseless bickering and infighting between my marriage candidates," she states with practiced ease, now gaining her confidence and the attention of the room, "As of two days ago, I have officially been engaged to one of my most... unorthodox suitors, and it is tonight that we wish to announce our marriage ceremony..." The words are barely out of her lips, when the cacophonous rapture that follows is the sound of breaking hearts and indignant diplomats, being forced into a situation they had unknowingly found themselves in. "Please, please, it is ok!" she states, lifting her hands to appease and quiet the crowd, everyone now drawing their attention to the black engagement ring on her finger, which she admonishes to the room, "This is a rare soul-band ring encrusted with artificially engineered smart diamonds, a two of a kind rarity that in its current form regretfully is quite lethal as is, but tomorrow I hope to change that." The room holds its breath, as Lala motions for another at the table to stand. "This is my fiance, Prince Lacospo of Gaama, one of the seven trade empires not under the Devilukean authority," Lala announces as Lacospo snootily holds up his head with a smile, purple lips puffed up and pointed ears looking devilishly sharp in his freshly tailored royal ensemble, "Tomorrow after morning's dawn, he and I will be legally joined as husband and wife, and considered for candidacy for future King and Queen of Deviluke."

A rapturous applause followed suit, not all half-hearted in some ways, yet all happy to hear that this was occurring. Now Lala turned to her father, who nodded and stood up, as Lacospo and herself retook their seats. Gid now raises his hands together to reacquire everyone's attention. "Now, as to the fact that we have many of Lala's potential marriage candidates here tonight, I ask any of you now who wish to contest this engagement to speak up, or bite your tongue at the wedding," Gid announces, coldly staring down the group, "Please, really do speak up, if you believe these two should not be joined together, I would rather give you all a fair chance to prove yourselves here and now." Rito's head feels a little fuzzy and the pounding headache growing in his ears as blood rushes into his head, almost keep Rito from standing to do just that, yet quickly he finds himself unable to move. A gentle, yet firm hand on his left knee keeps him from moving, and Rito realizes that Momo has a grip on him while still paying her father attention. While he is about to ask why she is stopping him, a hand snakes into his own, and Rito turns to find Mikan with pleading eyes staring right into his, before she turns her attention back to King Gid. With both Momo and his Sister stopping him, despite the blurring thoughts whizzing in his head, Rito realizes they must have good reason, and opts to use his free hand to take another sip of the numbing drink in his goblet, now half gone.

Suddenly a man rises from the fifth table from the front, an alien with tan skin and forehead ridges that Rito thinks must have been incredibly painful, stands and draws attention to himself. "I Kain, of Caste Mor'Behk, decree that this marriage is a farce, and wish to challenge Lacospo of Gaama in honorable combat for Princess Lala's hand," the alien in chainmail states, "What say you, Lacospo?" Though Rito can't explain it, the sudden chill in the air seems to pass over everyone as a wide smile breaks out on the tiny man's purple lips.

"Why, of course Kain, I believe I will accept your challenge," as he snaps his fingers and an armored man suddenly arrives carrying a sword in hand, allowing Lacospo to hold it aloft in the light, "Will combat by sword be sufficient?" The hush that came over the crowd as they recognized the gleaming, dark blade in his hand became quite evident. Even Kain looked terrified at the sword in Lacospo's hands, though Rito was overwhelmingly confused.

"Is t-that the First Sword of Chronos, kept by the fabled Bloodletter of the Charmian race?" Kain spoke out in fear, "That sword was lost to the ages... but- but it was said to have been a myth the likes of that terror Bladix..." Lacospo smiled and reveled in Kain's terror, as well as the terror that swept through the rest of the room. It was Momo's grip and the reassuring squeeze of Mikan's hand that kept him from all but laughing at the irony of the sword Lacospo wielded.

"Yes,and it was I who acquired it as a gift from my fifth wife, as tribute from the Talha Assassin's Guild," Lacospo states, as he smiles and garners his attention around the room, "So, will anyone face me to contest our marriage now?" He looks around to see not a single soul raising a hand, foot, paw, flipper or other extremity to object. He then turns his attention towards Rito, as he no doubt had planned to do the entirety of the time in spite of this showy display. "What of you, wielder of the Ninth Blade of Chronos?" Lacospo asks with a tilted smile, "Would you like to see how the clashing of our blades would end?" Suddenly the irony just hits Rito full force, and he begins to laugh until he chokes on air, covering his face to hide the smile and the tears he found himself shedding at the hilarious, empty threat that Lacospo himself obviously did not know he was making. Lacospo in turn must have mistook his laughter for sheer terror, as he laughs triumphantly seeing no response from Rito himself. "Very well then," Lacospo announces, lifting up a hand towards Rito while addressing the remainder of the chamber, "Not even Rito Yuuki, my most contested Rival and Lala's 'so-called' favorite, raises his own blade in recognition of my truly terrible might!" The ballroom stills and not a word is said as Lacospo sits down, nodding at Gid to continue.

A half glance in Rito's direction, seeing how Rito had finally calmed and yet was red in the face, was al the King needed before he continued on his own speech. "As my daughter conveyed, the symbolic marriage ceremony will be completed tomorrow a few hours after dawn, breakfast will be served here tomorrow morning before convening for the public ceremony," Gid states with another half glance in Rito's general direction, "Though it will be made official in a following private ceremony, where I will also legally recognize Lala's husband as my heir apparent, and future King and Ruler of Deviluke!" Though the name 'Lacospo' went unsaid, Rito recognized that whatever it was the Deviluke King was trying to convey to him was meant to be read between the lines. He would have to see what the others knew since they had been here longer, but he would have to do it in the privacy of somewhere else. He would hope that whatever it was that was dizzying his mind and keeping him docile had worn off by then, though he took another swig of his juice to calm his nerves. "Well, I believe with that, Dinner is concluded," King Gid announces to the group as a whole, "You may be free to wander the gardens and the rest of the palace, but any living quarters not assigned to you are off limits unless invited, and no fights will be permitted outside of my eyes, is that clear?" He phrases it as a question, yet it is clear to everyone that it is a statement, not a request, and the fear of Gid is struck deep within each and every occupant of the room. And with that the crowd disperses, leaving everyone free to go where they wished, and leaving only King Gid's table and the Princess' table alone in the massive dining hall.

As Rito gets up to approach Lala, it becomes clear that he is in no shape to face her, as he nearly drops to his knees and faceplants on the floor. Its Momo and Nana's arms that support him as he unsteadily and blearily gazes around the hall, before being escorted out, followed by the Princess' posse. "Did we give him too much?" he thinks he hears Nana asking a question towards someone, "I knew it would have this effect on him, but it should have only been enough to allow us to keep him calm through Lacospo's rant!" He barely hears a response, but he feels the rush of cool air as they walk through an open courtyard, before being dragged in two different directions, his feet finally failing him.

"I thought one glass would be enough to keep him calm with his enhanced metabolism, but I checked and saw he still had some in his cup," he thinks he hears Momo respond, "Yami can you help us with his legs, I think he's finally lost the strength to move them." He feels like he's laying on a pillow or a fluffy cloud, as he finds himself drifting in and out.

"I saw him nursing his drink all night, does that matter?" he thinks a voice that sounds like his darling sister states, "He wasn't drinking it much at first, with his sour mood, but when Lacospo started swinging his bait, I saw Rito take one big gulp of the drink." A groan is heard from somewhere, but Rito is too distracted by the lovely clouds and feeling like he was flying to care.

"That would be why.. wait, let's duck into my room," a voice states, "It's the most private by far, we can set Rito up on my bed, and we can get him some cold water to wake up." He feels himself descending form the clouds onto another soft surface, one that felt more like gelatin or a really soft marshmallow. He feels someone sitting next to him, and he feels himself shaking, but he's too in love with the clouds to let go and descend back to the ground all the way, so he latches onto the nearest thing he can to keep himself stable. "Eep!" he hears a squeak, as he nuzzles into a new sensation, soft and squishy, before he feels something try to pull him back, which causes him to grip tighter in response, "R-rito, I need you to let go now, please, Mikan and Celine are in here!" He frowns and groans in reply, relaxing his grip but mumbling a protest.

"But Momo-" he yawns as he releases his grip and slides away from the warm thing he had found, "Isn't that what you always want- me, to do..." All thoughts of dreams and clouds suddenly are soaked, as he feels a torrent of cold, icy water splash down over his head and bring him back to the waking world. "Freezing cold, I'm up, I swear it wasn't me Yami!" He yells as he bolts upwards, a flustered Momo fixing her dress and an un-amused Mikan staring him down hard with a cold glint in her eyes, "I swear, whatever it was, I- how did I get here?" Looking around a very pink bedroom, he finds himself staring down at a growing water stain on silken sheets and fluffy heart pillows, as his hair drips wet and his tuxedo sticks to his wet skin. "What the hell happened, and why do I suddenly feel an urge to punch Lacospo repeatedly?" Rito asks the others, as he stares up at them, an angry Nana being held back by Yami and Celine.

"Well, we kinda-accidentally-on-purpose got you drunk, because we knew from experience with Haruna, that there is a certain juice fro Deviluke that causes something similar to the lowering of inhibitions that is associated with drunkenness," Momo responds, slightly flustered still, "Unfortunately we didn't calculate the fact you would nurse your drink all night and take one huge drink near the end, so you ended up passing out until we brought you in here... you kind of accidentally groped me when I got too close, but that can be... *ahem* forgiven regarding the circumstances, before Nana saw fit to wake you up."

"Baka!" Nana yelled, as she was released by Yami, before simmering down, "I know we got you drunk, but come on, I thought you got over this!" Rito blushes and covers his face, as the memories of the night start to come back to him.

He suddenly sits ramrod straight, as he turns back to the others while his memories begin to process. "What the hell happened with Lala and Lacopso back there?" Rito asks, "I thought that Lacospo had held Lala captive, shouldn't he be incarcerated by now?" At that the others begin to look between each other, and Momo coughs to gain everyone's attention.

"Yes, well, you see," she begins, "As our mother tells us, it went a bit like this..."

* * *

 _Two Days Ago_

Gid Lucieon Deviluke paces the room of the private banquet hall that the royal family ate at when not attending guests or hosting galas or fundraiser's steeped in political interest. His wife merely sat at her seat, a hand fanned over her face as she attempts to hide the small small forming on her lips. She hadn't seen her husband this nervous or agitated before, especially when it came to their eldest daughter, who was practically his favorite even if he would never admit it. Then again, she had heard that during her difficult labor with their first daughter, he was nervous wreck in front of the original head of the knights, Zastin's own father, but all Sephie remembered of that tiring day was the smile on his face when his nerves broke seeing their precious daughter together. Now he had a new set of problems, which caused him to filter between three general categories that Sephie had marked: Indignation, Anger,and Worry. Though the cool headed King, who could destroy a planet with his power, intimidate his enemies with a glance, and who commanded an armada of ships which could siege any planets he wished; he certainly broke his facade in the privacy of his bedroom and in front of his wife, the only place and person he could open up and vent his frustrations and worries to.

"Why aren't they here yet?" Gid states, as he uncrosses his arms and looks over to where Sephie sits, "Was she not insistent that she would be here to dine with us, bring along her 'mysterious' fiance." He crosses his fingers once more over his chest, before making his way to the magnificent head of the table, at which his wife sits to his left in her own chair. "I don't know why she called so late this afternoon, all to tell us she was already en route to the capital," Gid states with a frustrated grip on the back of her chair, "Why would she go to such great lengths to hide her approach from us, her own parents, when we already approved of her fiance!" Sephie raises an eyebrow at that, and Gid takes notice of it. "Alright, I may not exactly have said it in so may words, but as spineless as that red headed alien is, he's got potential in him outside of matters regarding women," the King states, releasing his grip on her chair and going to sit in his own, "I swear, as foolishly indecisive as that boy can be regarding matters of the heart, we've both noted how much happiness he brings her, haven't we?" Sephie doesn't say a word, but nods in response, as sudden knocking at the doors to the dining hall silence his tirade. "Enter," Gid's booming voice commands as he shifts back into his Kingly role, "Lala, you know you are always welcome in our dining-"

The words on his tongue get stuck, choked out in his throat as they suddenly turn bitter in his mouth. To Sephie's credit, he was taking it much better than she had first thought, as Lala entered the private dining hall, followed by a sickly green toad. "Ah, Papa, may I introduce Lord Lacospo, Prince of one of the trade empires, Gaama," She introduces the green being following her into the room, "He's been anxiously waiting to meet you, though we apologize that the engagement took longer than expected, it isn't easy to find a minister willing to annul a marriage at this time of night..." A sputter dies on her father's lips, before he balls his hands into a fist and forces a smiling mask onto his face.

"Ah, I assume that means you were already married prior to this...engagement?" Gid asks, as he notices the coal black ring on his daughters finger, one gem a shining a brilliant pink, the other a sickly green, "I assume there was a reason a married man such as yourself approached our daughter?" At that the thin smile that dotted those purple lips drew taunt, and Gid felt like he could snap them in two with a simple flick of his pronged tail.

"Ah, yes your majesty, as you are no doubt aware, the people of Gaama practice intermarriage with their trade partners, usually symbolic, open marriages with little to no value, or spiritual connection between arranged partners," Lacospo smiles as he goes to grab one of Lala's hands, though she draws away, something that does not go unnoticed by either Gid or Sephie, "When I was originally partnered with your daughter, years ago, I was enthralled by her esoteric beauty, her simple minded nature, and her alluring, ethnic blending, which intrigued me as well, for the blood of two of the most intriguing races that ran through her veins." Gid notices in disgust that the man is practically salivating as he speaks over his daughter. "But.. ah, I was given the... chance, by my parents to approach Lala again, after my own shortcomings prevented me from framing the right mind set to properly appeal to her," Lacospo states, "A flaw I've rectified by properly accosting with her from that dreaded mudball she was stuck on, and treating her like the princess she is, providing for her lavishly this past week as we made our way to Deviluke." He ends there, a smile still stuck on his face as he flashes a hand bearing his matching ring to Lala's.

"And the reason you divorced your former wife so suddenly?" Gid asks the toad, a small break in his smile gives Gid slight satisfaction as he continues speaking, "Why divorce a wife when such an 'open marriage' would allow you to take Lala as she is, or was this woman not agreeable to your Harem, Lacospo?" He can see that the toad was sweating a little bit at that, something akin to nervousness beginning to creep up his face, causing a facial tick. "Do you assume you can just marry Lala, ascend to the throne then keep her locked away among your harem girls?" Gid asks with a growing smirk of satisfaction, "You understand that to keep my throne, to earn my throne, you must accept Lala as your own and keep her as your Queen-consort, first among your wives, or else you risk not only losing your status as King of Deviluke, but risk rebellion from those who you seek to usurp as her husband?" He lifts up his hand to count on his fingers. "On my hand I can count the men who would overthrow you just to take your place," Gid states, as he watches Lacospo squirm underneath his words, "Ren, the prince of Memorze, Pikari, one of the seven princes of the State of Light, Rito Yuuki, Lala's chosen favorite and a man that has earned my own blessing once before, not to mention a host of nameless others; oh, and not to forget myself, if I ever find you have done anything to harm my daughter in any way." Lacospo seems to loose three shades of green, becoming a pale yellow in his complexion, while Gid smirks in satisfaction at having instilled such terror into the prince.

"Gid, dear, perhaps we should let Lacospo speak for himself," Sephie breaks in, much to the surprise on Lacospo's and Gid's faces, "Lala, after all, wouldn't force herself to be with a man she didn't truly love, obviously he must have done something to impress her?" Giving him the ice breaker he needed, Lacospo smiles in relief that the Queen had spoken, giving him a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Y-yes, thank you Queen Deviluke," Lacospo states gratefully, Sephie smiling as the prince gathers his courage to speak in front of Gid once more, "While it is true I may not be the most powerful, or strictly moral, when compared to Lala's other marriage candidates, I have been given a cutting edge tool to show the universe, nay, you and your wife, that I truly do care for Lala!" He emphatically grabs Lala's arm and holds out the hand to showcase the engagement ring, before flashing his own hand with a matching, albeit pallet swapped duplicate. "Using the vast resources of my people, as both a gift to myself and my wife, the vast resources and trade contacts have been expended to create two literally priceless, cutting-edge artifacts that will symbolize our connection, our love for each other!" He smiles as he shows the blackened bands, "These rings are the pinnacle of technology and the cumulative understanding of the most advanced races in this and the other known galaxies; twin soul bands, aptly named for the metals nigh-spiritual reaction with their wearers true self, embedded with Smart Diamonds that have been specifically bio-crafted to personify these ethereal, untouchable qualities." He lowers his hand, smiling as he stares between the King and Queen, then to Lala. "With our marriage, these two rings would evolve to show our true selves and our bond as marriage mates, showing we were meant to be together as the perfect couple," Lacospo states, "Not only will our marriage combine the strength and vast control of space that Deviluke has, but with these two rings, the entire fortune of the third richest trade empire in the galaxy, separate from Deviluke itself, would become ours to utilize, to expand our borders and protection further, and secure our combined might as the greatest space empire that will have exited since the first Galactic War ravaged the galaxy." While Gid's face is stony, and Sephie seems impressed, Lala is truly startled by having Lacospo's plans laid bare at her parent's feet, before she slips into a mask to keep her surprise a secret from Lacospo.

"While I am impressed to hear such lofty goals already in your mind, Lacospo, you say these Rings need to 'evolve' to reach their true potential," the spiky haired King states, "I assume that this means there are restrictions on these rings, perhaps the same restrictions that required you to utilize a concubine to ferry such a powerful ring onto this planet, before officiating an engagement with these rings?" At that Lacospo gulps, as his nerves return.

"Ah, yes, you see there are some, uh, complications regarding the rings that did force me to take a concubine interim as my wife, which is why we had to meet with a minister at such a late hour to get an annulment," Lacospo states, nervously tugging at the collar of his clothing, "As these rings contain such powerful information within them, the wealth of an entire empire, as a way to prevent theft or loss a set of regulations and security precautions were built into the smart diamonds before they were set into the bands." Gid raises an eyebrow at this, a scowl growing on his face as Lacospo continues to talk. "Among them is the requirement that if one ring is to be worn, the other must be worn within a certain amount of time, or else the data in the ring would be destroyed by a ... _*microexplosivecontainedwithin*_ ," Lacospo states hurriedly at the end, but he continues before Gid can object, "Also, as we are officially engaged, stipulations were stated that I am to stay within a certain distance of my betrothed, or else the data would be identified as stolen, and security measures would be activated that.. _*activatethemicroexplosives*_ " Gid looks positively livid at this news, while Sephie is mortified, staring past a sheepish Lacospo, and focusing on the downcast face of her daughter, who does not meet her eyes at all.

"How far of a distance must you be maintain?" Gid asks, his voice low but not displaying any anger yet, "Answer me honestly, worm, or prepare to lose your hand!" He draws up his tail, the pointed end gleaming in the light of the room.

"Wait, _wait_ , please King Deviluke, I wouldn't do that!" Lacospo states, holding up his hands and nervously chuckling, "You see, as the soul bands measure ones spiritual energy, cutting of my hand would be cutting off the flow of energy, a task that would also activate similar countermeasures to threat of torture or theft of the ring." Gid pauses momentarily at that, which allows Lacospo to keep going. "Originally the length was purported to be only five meters apart, but it had come to my attention that this statement was inaccurate," Lacospo reassuringly states, which causes Lala to lift her head up, her curiosity piqued, "The Actual maximum distance was revealed to me to actually be ten meters." Lala brightens at this, while Gid audibly growls at the man in front of him, which causes him to shudder under his gaze.

"Very well, then, since it seems that you have already decided what you are going to do, then I will inquire of the servants to make two adjacent rooms available with those stipulations in mind," Gid states, much to the surprise of Lacospo and Lala, the old king looking up to meet his daughters eyes, "I am afraid that bnking together will be deemed inappropriate in this 'situation', and Lala's room is to isolated from another room to meet these requirements." He crosses his arms and steely gazes into Lacospo's eyes. "They will be furnished accordingly, and you will do nothing together until a proper engagement can be announced, I will send out invites immediately for a Engagement Ball to be held accordingly within Deviluke's Capital in two day's time; sufficient time for Lala's other suitors to arrive and have the news broken too them," Gid states, "Now, you will both be dismissed and shown to your rooms as soon as possible, where I will also send your dinners, though I request that you now wait outside the dining hall until servants can be called; you are both dismissed."

 _Lala's New Quarters_  
 _A Few Hours Later_

Lala sits in her room, which has been provisioned with a variety of things from her room, and even a communications link has been set up at a small table. She is thankful that Lacospo had lied about the space they needed between them, because it meant she could distance herself from the the perverted prince than she had at first thought. She was doubly grateful that the rooms she had been given were inverted to normal rooms, while they thankfully did not share a bathroom, they instead had two central bathrooms separated with space between them, and the rooms themselves had each bed bolted to the floors at the conjoining walls. She doesn't know if this was at her father's insistence, or whether this was how the two rooms were made, but she was thankful nonetheless to not have to worry about accidentally moving too far in her sleep, and still be able to keep within the distance needed to keep the rings defenses inactive. Now she taps her fingers as she sits in her chair, deciding just how she wants to phrase this new situation to her sisters and the ones she left on Earth.

Sucking it up and hitting the call button, she waited for ether of her sisters to answer their Dedials. In less than three rings, the screen had opened up to reveal Nana's confused and tired face, as she blearily opened her eyes to look at the person who was contacting her through the phone. "'Ello," she mumbled as she slowly blinked her eyes into focus, "Whose 'dis?" Lala sucked in a breath as she prepared herself to explain everything, but her first order of busines was to get Nana and Momo together to save her some time.

"Nana, it's me, Lala, I need to talk to you and Momo together," she hastily said, as the younger Devilukean woke up as the shock of seeing her beloved older sisters face on the small screen, "I'll explain everything, but I need you to get the others up so I only have to do this once." And soon Lala found that everyone who was available was awake and together, with both Momo and Nana attesting to this. So she told her story, from what happened with Lacospo, to her confrontation and history lesson with Azenda, and an omission of the perverted acts of Lacospo, the rings, and her plan, but everyone was fully awake and engaged by the time she ended her story with the announcement that their would be an event happening a few days from then, which would require them to all come to Deviluke, including Rito. "So where is Rito, has he returned with the sword?" Lala asks, "I know Mistletoe is a little out of the way, but he doesn't look like he's there." At that the concern on Nana and Momo's faces became evident, and Lala felt her breathing hitch.

" _Anue_ , hasn't he arrived at Deviluke yet?" Nana asks her older sister, "He left quite awhile ago, he should have made it in plenty of time to stop Lacospo..." Lala feels the cool night air creep down the back of her neck, and she feels her heartbeat steadily increase with the rising panic. She tries not to let it show.

"A-alright then, he may be running l-late," Lala states, trying to keep the panic from out of her voice, "Mistletoe is quite a ways away from here, even with warping tech..." She smiles as she looks at her sisters, Mikan, Yami, Mea, even Nemesis, and Haruna, and she tries not to cry in front of them all, as they smile reassuringly back at her. "I-I think I have to go now," she practically sobs into the video chat, "I plan to see you a-all here, now, so don't disappoint me!" The other girls all say their goodbyes, and Lala ends the call on her side. She lets the tears fall freely as she realizes that everything was not okay. This whole messed up situation wasn't part of her plan, it wasn't expected at all, and she should have realized that it was going to happen regardless of all the planning she had made, since she had altered the timeline with her own knowledge of the future.

In her mind she had organized it one way, broke it down another, until it all became a scrambled mess when reality came crashing down on her. Discuss the engagement with her Parents and Lacospo, weakly smile as she attempts to believe her own lies. Contact family on Earth and ask them to return to Deviluke, do not engage in small talk or worry them with news of her engagement. Feign shock at Rito's new weapon, then invite them back to Deviluke with a promise of everything being explained away, and attempt to appease them with a false and empty smile. Her plan didn't involve her going to sleep hurt and confused that her boyfriend slash now ex-fiance, isn't where he should be, leaving her to hope against all odds that he had managed to do the impossible and prevent the terrible future she was beginning to believe was playing out before her very eyes.

The knocking at her door was the last thing she expected, as she tries to rub away the tears from her eyes. When she goes to check who is at the door, she opens it to reveal her mother standing in the hallway, dressed in her night clothes and holding a stuffed plush of Peke out to her. "I know you had to leave Peke behind," her Mother states as she hands her the cloth doll, "I know it isn't a replacement for the real one, but I figured you would want something comforting nearby." Her mother doesn't ask about why her eyes are rubbed raw, or why she seems to still be up at the late hour of the night, she merely enters without a word and sits on the edge of the bed,where she smoothes out a spot for her eldest daughter. "Come, sit, let's talk," she states without even having to convince her daughter, who locks the door and goes to join her mother, "I want to talk with you, because you seem to need it." She removes her veil, and at once the worry and anxiety hidden behind it comes out and nearly breaks Lala's tough facade she is struggling to put up. She wordless sits downon the soft, silken sheets that were brought in from her room, before she scoots a little bit closer to her mother, not quite close enough to touch though. "You know you can tell myself or your father anything," Sepie states without any prying or malice, "We'll be here for you through all your choices you make, you know that right?"

She does know that, really she wants nothing more than to break down and cry on her mother's shoulder, but then the secrets she was working so hard to keep, would be out in the open and she couldn't have her loving and concerned mother ruining the carefully laid trap she had been preparing. 'Though,' she began to admit to herself, 'That could all be for naught, if Rito doesn't show up with his sword, with Adam.' She doesn't know how to explain it all to her mother, not without making her suspicious, but she had to make her believe this was all her choice, to ease her own fears and anxiety. "I'm fine, mama," Lala begins, softly, "Really, it's all okay." She doesn't know if she believes it, but she doesn't question her either. "I'm just nervous, since this is going to be a big step, I- I don't want to have any regrets," Lala states, as she looks up into her mothers eyes with a mask of indifference, "If you never met papa, would things have worked out differently; do you have any regrets, or do they all just go away after you recognize them?" She doesn't expect her mother to answer her, but she is surprised when she speaks.

"I will always regret abandoning Azenda, if that is what you are getting at, my daughter," she says softly, "She was my greatest friend, she had just been given the answers to all her prayers, yet she lacked the guidance, the wisdom, to see more than two feet in front of her... she was never one for plans in the long term, always short sided, and always caring about herself over others." Whatever it was she was expecting from her mother, it wasn't that admission. "I left her when she needed me the most, just because I believed I knew a better way, I believed I knew what was best, but then again, so did she," her mother states, "She made a name for herself, 'Tyrant Queen', sure, but in the end someone new, someone younger comes along, and she finds herself deposed by her 'loyal subjects', just like she was all those years ago..." She sighs, as she turns to her daughter and embraces her, bring Lala's head close to her and resting it on her shoulder, where she began to stroke her hair. "I did abandon her, but in the end I made the right choice, my own choice, just as Azenda made her own choice; did I make the right choice?" Sephie states, bring her fingers through her daughters hair, "I may never know, but that is all we can do, make the choice we believe to be right at the time, and live with the consequences no matter the cost, even if we don't realize it at the time; the question is, what is the cost of your choice?" Lala freezes as her mother continues stroking her hands through her hair, and Sephie can feel her daughter tense in her arms.

"It's my choice, I c-choose Lacospo, now," Lala states, as she tries to keep the tears at bay, "I've realized the truth, mama, even though it hurts so much..." Sephie doesn't say a word, she only listens. "Rito,as much as I love him, truly love him as he made me fall for him all those short two years ago," Lala says sadly, "Rito can't make up his mind, not with everything going on, not with everything happening as it is, and in the end I fear his choice will only hurt others in the end." She feels the tears come down, as she truthfully admits what she has been feeling, ever since she came to the conclusion upon her return from the future. "Run, Yui, Yami, Nemesis, Mea, Nana, Mikan, Momo, Haruna, myself, he's had so much to deal with, and I am not stupid!" she says, tears running hot as they slide down her cheeks, "They are all different forms of love, all in different stages, but all of our actions are affecting him in many ways, some for the better, others for the worse, and it all came crashing down at the beginning of our third year, mama, when the girl he first loved, had his first crush on, moved away and we were all too selfish to notice the beginning of the end..." She nestles into her mother's shoulder more, as she releases all her pent up frustrations now that she has a listening ear.

"I had came up with this stupid, selfish plan that I thought would make us all happy, since in the beginning Rito had loved Haruna, and I was to vapid and starry eyed to see the truth right in front of me, because I had all the freedom in that small blue world, that I lacked here, mama, not because of papa or you being busy all the time," she sniffs as she continues to rant, "He was the first person not to see me as a princess, or a possession, or a way to ascend the throne, and it wasn't puppy love like Ren, he just saw me as another girl, maybe an alien to him, but just another girl." Her mother still doesn't say anything, and she loves how she isn't being judgmental. "And so I said 'you can be King of the universe, and the rules won't apply, so why not marry us both', and at first he was confused, because Earth was just so backwards and alone, that it was new to him, but then he actually began to like me, but he was still a kid, and I was still a kid, and we didn't really know what love was..." she sucks in a deep breath and sighs, "And then he finally confessed, but my Sisters got in the way, and then Momo became interested, and Rito got caught up in a crazy whirlwind I don't think he ever really could escape even if he wanted to, because this is all the new normal now, and once you let curiosity out it can't be put back in the box..." She stops and takes another breath, the long winded rant stealing her breath and causing her to stop and gather herself.

"I lost him, mama, the day Haruna left to be with her parents, the day Momo lied for her own selfish interests, the day I realized that Rito never even knew why his first love, his first crush, had left without a word, and he was showing all the signs of depression, and we just dumped more and more of our feelings, our emotions, our plain craziness on him, and expected him to be all right," she states, as she turns to stand up from her mother and pace the room, tears blurring her eyes, "Then I lied to him mama, I lied to him badly, and I got Nana, Momo, and the others all to believe it too..." She hadn't told anyone this, not since she had devised it up so very long ago it seemed now. "I faked a message from Papa, saying Rito had to make a choice, and I made it very convincingly, too convincingly, when I said the Earth, Rito's family could be made slaves, if he didn't choose someone," She covers her head in shame, as those words come crashing down on her, "I thought it would help speed things along, help him get over Sairenji, maybe even help others get over him too, but it all just began to spiral out of control when the thing I feared the worst began to happen, despite all my precautions I had made..." She stops as a fresh wave of tears and grief wrack her body. "When Azenda crashed the auction coming after the Pearl, when she came after Yami with intent to kill, when Rito came into the cross hairs and got fatally injured to the point I thought he would die..." she stops and sinks to her knees, "I thought I lost him, mama, he was scarred so, so bad, I never thought it would happen like that, but then he got better, and he seemed so much more... confident, so unlike anything I had seen in him before, and I began to feel even more... attracted to him, my feelings really came to the head when I realized just how much it hurt me to realize he could have died without knowing my feelings..."

She looks to her mother, who smiles and motions for her to go on, which causes Lala to smile for her to so patiently listen. "Then Haruna cam back," Lala states, her smile turning to a frown, "And then Momo went and confronted him, and she ran out when he told her bluntly how he felt about her..." She runs a hand through her own hair at this point, as she gets up and sits back down in the comforting, open, and welcoming arms of her mother. "She was kidnapped, mama, by Azenda, by Lacospo, he wanted to use her as a bargaining chip to get to me, and I went with him, I made my choice to bring my sister back to me, even if I had to give up the love of my life," she states, a cold, hollow tone coming out as she speaks, "Lacospo's another broken child, in his own ways, backwards in some respects, but he can also be sweet and caring, even if he may be shrewd and manipulative." She feels her mother cross her arms over her, and hug her tight. "I don't want to marry him, I really don't," she states, turning into her mother's shoulder to cry again, "He doesn't really love me, but he has power over me now, with this ring, and I can't back out now, not yet...not until it's all said and done." She feels the comforting squeeze of her mother, as she stops talking and listens to the sobbing that is no longer coming from herself.

"I know, darling daughter of mine, I know, baby," Sephie sobs into her child's hair, "I know, I know." Lala doesn't know why that is so comforting, why her own acknowledgement, her understanding, soothes her so, but it comforts her immeasurably. She doesn't realize she's fallen asleep until her mother tucks her in, kisses her on the forehead and leaves, but she also doesn't remember the dreams of a simpler time, of the happy memories of so long ago.

 _Soon_

Sephie returns to her chambers, after locking her daughter up safely back into her room and replacing her veil to move about in public. She returns swiftly to her bedroom and knows better than to betray the confidence of her daughter, who she has full trust in that she knows what she is doing, even if she doesn't realize just how much of a mistake it is yet. But the struggle of youth is mistakes, and the wisdom of ages is learning from them, so Sephie tiredly returns to the bed her and her husband shares. She is emotionally drained, having listened to her daughter rant and rave, but in a way she understood that this was her own curse, her own burden to bear; for though she lacked the curse of beauty all Charmians naturally had, she was given one infinitely harder to bear, as the heavy crown lay on her head yet. It was no surprise to Sephie when she found her husband still awake, contemplating deeply on the interesting dinner they had, having lost their appetite shortly after dismissing her own child and the vile toad.

"What has that impudent toad done to intimidate my daughter so?" he asks no one in particular, but Sephie is wise enough to recognize he is fishing for answers she knows better than to provide, "That boy, Rito, he has earned my respect twice now; a feat more so proof of his worthiness than any of her other marriage candidates, something only a man like Zastin has ever earned before." He looks to his wife, who merely remains silent as she slips into bed with him, snuggling up close to feel the heat of his bare chest. "Tell me, is it really love she feels for him?" he asks his wife with a note of sincerity she had never heard him speak before, "Or is it just another man's attempts at rising the political ladder?" At his wife's silent perseverance, he knows better than to push for answers she will not divulge. "Very well, if she will not come to us for the help she so desperately seems to need, we will let her make her own mistakes," Gid announces to his wife, "Since it seems we now have a rare respite from the hassles of ruling an empire, how about we make it a night that may perhaps allow us to remember once more why we are husband and wife?" Sephie coyly smiles at his insinuation, before drawing herself up from her seat and giving him a chaste kiss, before removing herself from the bed to make preparations.

* * *

 _Now_

Lala sits on her bed, kicking off her shoes and the stuffy dress she had been wearing in favor of her old Devilukean clothes. She knew Peke was here, she had seen the telltale hair clip on Mikan's bun, meaning the robot had acted as the beautiful dress the younger girl had been wearing that night. She couldn't face having her creation near her anytime soon, not since she could break down with such a dear friend close to her, one she could talk to and spill her secrets too. Such action could put too many people at risk, especially since Peke could go to whoever she wished to spill these same secrets, even if it could soothe the hurt feelings and the questions she had no doubt brought up with this engagement revelation. She moves over to hang her dress, before flopping onto her bed and crying her night away, when her ye catches something that did not belong on her dresser. A pure white box tied with a bow, sat at the top of her dresser, innocently inviting her to open it. Lala did not know how it got there, considering her room was open only to her and her family, and she was supposed to be the only one allowed within the walls of this room.

* * *

 _Last Night_

Azenda holds her fist over the door, ready to knock and face the person beyond the wooden door. She had wandered the halls looking for this room, and now she had to face the reality of her situation, now that she had found it. Suddenly the door opened before her, revealing empty space at first, before she looked down and met eyes with the person who had opened the door. "Good, good, you're here," Lacospo states, crossing his arms and looking up at the woman in front of him, his now ex-wife, "Did you bring the device I requested?" Azenda nearly lets her mask of calm slip, but she forces the annoyance back down into herself. She hands the pocket sized device to the green skinned man before he wordlessly leaves the door wide open, and enters back into the room. "Well, are you going to come in?" he asks as he makes his way to the communications device held within the room, "I still have to hold up my end of our bargain, don't I?" Azenda follows him in and shuts the door behind her.

Lacospo opens the device and pulls out a long, thin cord that he plugs into an opening on the back. "May I ask why you required this device, when communication seems to be the least of your worries?" Azenda asks, crossing her arms as she observes Lacospo making alterations to the communications device, "An extra measure of security would surely seem suspicious if the Devilukean security bureau became aware of it?" Lacospo scoffs at this, and turns to her with an incredulous look.

"Please, their definition of security is laughable for what I intend to do," Lacospo states, as he turns back to work on his device, "While I am sure the security bureau is watching my communication lines intently, to see if I slip up, I trust that this chameleoid device will camouflage my transmission for what I intend to utilize it for." The device chimes signifying it is ready, giving Lacospo a look of glee, and Azenda a feeling of dread. Azenda watches as the device cycles through a million channels, before a signal is established with Lacospo's target on the other end of the line, as the communications link is decrypted.

"Ah, Lord Lacospo, I see our device made it through Deviluke's intense cyber security wall, this is most fortunous for both of us this day!" the Chameleoid, Azenda would recognize his miniscule species in that kind of exo-skeleton anywhere, answers on the opposite side of the line, "The Black Market Consortium thanks you for utilizing our services and products, oh most loyal of our patrons, to what degree may we help you today, oh favored son of Gaama?" Lacospo sneers at the sycophant spouting praises on the screen, before snapping at Azenda and motioning for her to stand next to him.

"The information I paid to have recovered by your data-miners, has anything panned out of that regarding the information?" Lacospo asks, before thumbing towards Azenda, "I require the information to complete a contract, and the Tyrant Queen of Talha waits for no man." The alien then looked over to where Azenda stood in the picture, his eyes widening in fear and recognition of one of the most dangerous assassin's in this and many other galaxies.

"Oh, oh yes, Lord Lacospo, let me find that right away..." he shuffles off screen in a hurry, huffing as he hurriedly searches, before returning short of breath and a bit red, "The- information- is- right- here..." Azenda forgives the man as he takes a few moments to catch his breath, but he straightens up neatly and gives her a serious look. "To the matter of information regarding the item of interest you were having us look up, it was quite a tricky item to find, for sure," he states, as Lacospo rolls his eyes, "The item is very rare, very hard to come by, and certainly one of a kind, if the rumors surrounding this object are true, and what it means for those who posses it." Azenda's interest is piqued as she listens to what the man says next. "The White Taoists Pearl, by all accounts has disappeared from the the face of this and any other galaxy, as if it never existed," the man states, causing Azenda to become slightly disheartened at that, "Fortunately though, we have a man on the inside, who knows exactly where the Pearl is being held.. and fortunately it isn't too far from where you are, Lady Azenda." Both Lacospo and Azenda are puzzled at this revelation, before the man continues. "Lady Azenda the White Taoist Pearl, by our information, had fallen into the King of Deviluke's hands over twenty five years ago," the alien states, "By all accounts, it was the first of many objects that began to be collected and stored within an extremely dangerous, highly secretive, and heavily guarded facility by the name of the Black Archives; a facility started and kept secret by the King of Deviluke at the end of the Great Galactic War, and establishment of his seat of power over the current state of galactic affairs."

Azenda was surprised at this revelation, having never figured that the pearl would have left Sephie's side, the way they had last parted all those years ago. Then again, as destructive a potential as that Pearl could have, it was evident that having it hidden away within a secure collection of the King's trophies and trinkets, it was as safe a place as any to hide it. "Where are these 'Black Archives'?" Azenda asks the alien, who holds up a hand in response. Suddenly information is shown on the screen, a floor plan of the Deviluke castle with a certain section highlighted.

"The entrance is located here, though I can say nothing else about what is kept within its walls, as our same agent who confirmed its existence was caught and ended before he could report anything else," the Alien responds, "I am sorry to say I can be of no more help, other than to give you the general location of the pearl, located somewhere in the west wing of the facility with the worst of the worst." At this Lacospo coughed and pushed Azenda aside, before stepping up and focusing all attention on him again.

"Now that my friend has her information, what about that matter we discussed, you or whoever it was I had talked to regarding the private freighter, leaving Gaama with my parents?" Lacospo states, "Has it been arranged to be sabotaged yet?" Lacospo smiles as he states this, a feeling of disgust surfacing in Azenda's mind at seeing someone so happy to here their parents stranded, killed, or worse.

"Ah, yes, regarding that matter, we did manage to acquire the location of your ship, though ensuring the targets of the hit are on there is quite another matter," the alien admits, as Lacospo suddenly seems to begin to rage, "But- but, sir, I can inform you that the ship is unarmed, and as such we have dispatched a ship to intercept theirs and set up a quantum mine to knock out their travel capabilities; they should be intercepting them as we speak." Lacospo backs off at that, cooling his rage and smiling deeply.

"Good, good, then I will expect to here from you by tomorrow," Lacospo states, "Ensure that, even if they survive, they are unable to make it to the wedding proceedings!" The alien nods, and with that Lacospo cuts the communication line with a smile. He turns to Azenda and smiles, clasping his fingers together and chuckling. "Well, you have your information," he states, as he gets up from his chair and walks over to his bed, "As I am to be a married man in a day and a half, perhaps it is best that my ex leave promptly, or else someone might get the wrong idea." Azenda turns to leave, a growing feeling of something she had never felt before in her stomach, weighing her down. "Have a nice night," Lacospo states, "I hope you find whatever it is you are really seeking in those archives, dearest Azenda." Azenda grasps the handle to his door just a bit too tightly, but she calmly leaves the room and slams the door behind her.

Having memorized the floor plan from the glance on the computer screen, she made her way quickly and quietly through the hallways, passing her own room in the process, and making her way towards the section of the castle occupied by the King and Queen of Deviluke. She counted the doors as she passed, and to her surprise, she stopped in front of the room that was the entrance to the Black Archives. She had very little time to work with now, before the servants rose and began their morning routine, and Azenda quickly made her decision to continue forward with her rash decision. She turned the door to the Servants Laundry Room, and entered expecting the worst. Instead she found herself in an empty room, save the piles of dirty laundry stacked at one end, separated in various carts by material or color, industrial sized washing and drying machines, a tailors corner, and a three-way standing mirror to observe the alterations made. Azenda blinked, thinking she was crazy to believe that the Black Market Consortium could really find out the information that she needed. She knew for a fact that on the other side of this wall were servants quarters, meaning that there was no secret entrance to any facility that could even be hosted below the palace. She frowned as she put a hand to her forehead, trying to soothe the forming migraine. Se had been played for a fool, and helped a mad man for no reason whatsoever than to get into the pants of her ex-best friend's daughter, and become a political powerhouse in the process.

She had a choice to make now, how she was going to proceed with all of this. She couldn't go to Sephie, since she probably would arrest her on sight, and she couldn't confess to King Gid of Lacospo's madness, since again, she was a wanted assassin. She could kill Lacospo and be done with him and his treachery, but in turn Lala would suffer the consequences the way things were now. Running was always an option, but doing so would still mean leaving her only friend behind, and leaving Lala to a life of misery with a wicked man as her husband. Azenda mournfully walked over to the mirror, just to spite herself and look at herself in the pitiful, hopeless situation she was in now. She was a shadow of herself, she was once a queen, now she was some lowly lackey having helped a madman practically ascend to the throne overseeing the known galaxy. This feeling roiling in the pits of her stomach was something she had buried deep inside her; in the blood, grime, and bodies she had cut into to get to her position. Now at her lowest she could once again feel it gnawing away at her mind and heart: her guilt. Balling her fists in rage, she slams them into the mirror in front of her, rounding her whole body into causing the most damage she could, consequences be damned.

Stumbling into the mirror, she found herself headfirst falling onto the pristine floor of an unknown room. Landing in a heap, she quickly gets up to observe her surroundings, and finds herself in what looks to be some kind of entrance to such a secure facility as the Black Archives. It had hand scanners, retinal scanners, even something that looked like a blood analyzer. Azenda would have laughed at the impossibility, the madness of it all, if it weren't for the fact that as she stood up and walked towards the massive door, it suddenly opened, as if by magic. Magic would have been her preferred answer, when she saw who was on the other side of the door.

* * *

 _Three Days Ago_

When the early morning call came in on the private channel, it was mere chance that Sephie had returned at such a late hour from a diplomatic conference between the warring factions of Kaylon IV and Kaylon V. While she had dressed down to join her husband in bed, the call from the guards signifying a communication was coming in using Lala's specific code was enough to divert her to the private screening room often used just outside their bedroom. She also made sure to grab the nearest robe she could find, obviously Gid's by the smell, shrugging it on to fight off the chill in the air and make herself presentable over the video link. Who she saw returning the call, was not exactly someone she ever thought she would see again. "Azenda," Sephie acknowledged the assassin queen crisply, "How did you get my daughter's personal code, and why are you contacting me with it." The silver haired woman smiles in return and chuckles abit at the icy reaction.

"Hello again to you too, Sephie, though I wish I could say this call was made to reconcile our muddied past encounters," Azenda states, "But I am afraid that this matter regards your daughter, and that I must explain it too you quickly, as he is going to notice me making this call the longer I keep it on." Sephie says nothing in response, so Azenda takes it as confirmation that she wishes to hear whatever it is that Azenda has to say. "Lala and myself are currently en route to Deviluke onboard a ship being headed by one of Lala's marriage candidates, a Lacospo of Gaama, if you recall him," Azenda states, as Sephie nods in confirmation after a few seconds of placing species in her head, "Well, he is currently escorting Lala to Deviluke with the intention of marrying her, a foolish attempt to gain her love and force her to become his queen." Sephie raises an eyebrow at that.

"He should no well enough, that neither Gid nor I will accept a forced marriage that we have not consented to," Sephie states, crossing her arms in annoyance, "What could he possibly have done that made the delusional toad believe he can just escort Lala here and state he is going to marry her?" Azenda nods and grimaces, as she looks over her shoulder to double check her surroundings, before returning her attention to Sephie.

"He kidnapped and threatened your youngest daughter, used her as a bargaining chip that made it so Lala was forced to come with us, a plan at first I am ashamed to admit, I had a hand in escalating," Azenda states with a sorrowful look, before looking up and giving Sephie a straight face, "Unfortunately Lacospo's own ego made him overlook the fact that, while he had imprisoned her, he did not yet own her." She holds up a hand that reveals a black ring, with green and purple diamonds on it. "I was bought to be a courier, literal mail-order bride, for this ring that gives Lacospo access to a massive fortune he wishes to use to do whatever he can to force Lala into marrying him," Azenda states, "Unfortunately he underestimated your daughter's tenacity, and my tolerance of his lecherous behavior, and when he least expected it we both turned the tables on Lacospo, rendering him unconscious long enough to formulate a plan that benefits both her and I." At that Sephie raises an eyebrow once more, a steely look crossing her face, frowning at her former friend.

"Oh, please, pray tell, what do these plans entail?" Sephie asks bitterly, "Why should I believe a poisonous lie that slips out of your mouth, since you would sell out anyone just to get back into my graces." Azenda lowers her head in shame and then looks up with the most pleading expression she had ever seen.

"Your daughter is in danger Sephie, and I have grown close to her since she has been on board," Azenda states, her voice practically quivering, "I have told her our history, the secrets kept between you and I alone, because she needed to know exactly why she could trust me now, as I am begging you to do now." Sephie feels a little bit of indignation, burning anger at the fact she could have been filling her daughters heads with innumerable lies as much as she could be telling her the bloody truth. "She plans to trick Lacospo, marry him and then invoke ancient Deviluke law that allows her to annul the marriage, and cancel his claim to the throne," Azenda states, causing Sephie to freeze at that, "She doesn't want anyone to worry, she doesn't want anyone to know her plans, but I had to tell you, had to warn you just how dangerous of a game she is playing with an unstable man such as Lacospo." Sephie looks and sees the genuine concern and fear in Azenda's words and on her face, as the strong and proud woman talks to her like they were still friends. "She doesn't realize yet just how wrong she is, Sephie, Lacospo for as crazy and delusional as he is, in his own twisted way he truly believes he loves her, but he doesn't realize that there are those whose love eclipses his own," Azenda says, "So someone had to know, Sephie, and you as well as I, know that Lala would be too blinded by her love of that Earth boy to see how many steps ahead of her Lacospo already is."

"So he plans to marry her then," Sephie states as she rubs her forehead tiredly, "Very well, I will talk to Gid and make plans to..." Azenda cuts her off rudely,much to the Queen's shock.

"No, please Sephie, you don't understand how crucial it is that you do not speak of this to anyone, how imperative it is that you do not warn your husband," Azenda states, concern and fear gone, replaced with determination, "As unexpected, crazy, and convoluted a plan as it is, it might just work to her benefit." Sephie looks at Azenda in surprise at the sudden change of demeanor. "Your daughter is right, people will not stop if she is not married to someone who has proven themselves, and even Lacospo will admit defeat if he is bested in front of everyone," Azenda states, "So we must plan, we must help her in anyway we can, but we cannot stop this wedding, Sephie, please, help me help your daughter." Sephie closes her eyes, feeling a headache forming at the complex planning this would require.

"Very well, but if we do this, if anything goes wrong and the plan is ruined," she looks up at Azenda, "Then Lala lives an unhappy life, forced into a loveless marriage she didn't really ask for; are you prepared to face the fact that despite all this, despite all we do, Lacospo may figure us out, that he may hunt you down for betraying him?" Azenda nods, and Sephie realizes she had nothing left to really lose, why make things worse. "Then we shall make plans in secret," Sephie states, "Find out all you can from Lacospo, then report to me when you get the chance." Azenda nods, and cuts off the communication. Sephie leans back in her chair and decides she really needed to get herself a stiff drink, then go to bed and sleep in until late in the morning.

* * *

 _Then_

Azenda stares at Sephie, who smiles innocently as she stands there in her formal dress. "We've been expecting you Azenda," she states as she turns to walk deeper into the facility, "Well, are you coming?" Azenda wordlessly follows her inside, as they pass by many doors and branching hallways, deeper and deeper they go into the complex. They pass their time in silence, until it is Sephie who breaks it. "I was against bringing you here, but she was insistent," Sephie states not even deigning to look in Azenda's direction, old wounds still fresh despite their agreement to help her daughter, "But it has come to my attention that to ensure a favorable outcome for my daughter, that personal interests, specifically your selfish ones, be finally put at rest and all out secrets, yours and mind, be laid bare so we can finally begin to trust one another again." Azenda merely stops in her tracks at those words, they sting, but she realizes that she is also very right. She had made this deal with Lacospo long before she had chosen her new path, it was only fair that it would be Sephie who would extend her hand first. They had fallen out of being friends, and it was a comfort to know despite everything, Sephie would still be the one to reach out first.

"Don't dally too long, there are worse monsters than you in here," Sephie states curtly, turning back and motioning back for Azenda to continue on, "This wing is full of the dangerous men and women that Gid has concluded regular courts and justice systems could not inter, whether they be truly madmen, and butchers, or just misunderstood geniuses driven by personal tragedies or vendetta's." Azenda glances at some of the names on the doors, some seem to indicate weapons, while others indicate people behind them. "Most in here are of the latter half, considered criminals by their own people for dabbling in illegal experimentation or sciences, though planets laws and regulations vary in strictness and harshness to this degree, so Gid weighs in only when someone truly catches his eye," Sephie states, "He's a pragmatist after all, why destroy or kill someone, when you can use them to your benefit in another situation, so as long as they cooperate, they get comfortable life sentences and carrying degrees of benefits awarded to them for their work." Azenda doesn't know if she should be impressed or terrified that the King of Deviluke, purportedly the strongest being in the universe, would keep prisoners in his own castle like this. She also wants to ignore the fact that he also is said to keep weapons in here, meaning that if any of these prisoners were to escape, potentially they would have an unlimited arsenal and army to escape and retaliate against their captors.

"No one would be so foolish as to actually garner the anger of Gid, Azenda, so breakouts are not an issue," Sephie states as if reading her mind, stopping at a door and facing it to open a peep hole at its top, "Here, in fact, is an example as to why many of these men are so satisfied working here." She peers in, then satisfied,, removes herself from the door with a smile and motions for Azenda to take a look. Hesitantly she steps forward and looks through the viewing port. Her eyes widen at what she sees beyond the door.

A decent sized lab is set up with a variety of equipment and small library of books. Utensils, items that could be considered weapons if turned against a guard, littered the piles of papers and books spread out over one counter in the lab, while various unknown chemicals bubbled and boiled, as an average looking scientist with goggles on took notes as he brewed his work, muttering as he did so. Azenda steps back and looks at Sephie with a raised eyebrow, the Charmian woman smiling under her veil. "Those who are truly good men, such as Professor Yana here, get access to supplies and notes from around the universe, within reason of course," Sephie states, "Their only crimes entailing them pursuing their life's work for the betterment of their people, only to be stopped, framed, or imprisoned by corrupt corporations or governments that refuse to listen to them." Azenda notes as the Charmian woman begins to walk again, slowly followed by a curious Azenda. "Of the one hundred and forty three guests inhabiting the archives, only a small handful, perhaps less than ten could be considered universal criminals, and even then their genius has helped others in here to discover cures for diseases that they simply could not get the right perspective on, or help design the latest safety features in your space ship," Sephie states, as they pass a final door held far away from the others, as Azenda slowly noted the space growing between doors, this one only having the title emblazoned on it, "Only one man, this man here, could be considered an exception; evil so pure he could be considered the root of many peoples suffering during the Great War."

Azenda studies the door for a moment, and looks to Sephie, whose face is expressionless behind the veil. "This is the cell of a man who took pleasure in the genocide of an entire planet, the root of an organization so steeped in evil and chaos, that it took Gid unifying the entire galaxy against his organization to truly stop him," Sephie states, and realization dawns on Azenda's face as she observes the title on the door with fresh horror, "Yes Azenda, it's _His_ door, the man who stripped worlds looking for two pearls, the man who deigned himself a god, deciding to toy with life to create the perfect weapon disguised as a little girl, until he made the wrong call that was his undoing..." The golden letters spelling out ' _Doctor_ ' on it were haunting in their own way. Was he stripped of his name, using his title as his lone identifier, or was it that he defined himself as he lived, forgoing his name in favor of that moniker. "Come now, this isn't why I invited you in here," Sephie states as she coldly moves on, "He isn't worth the anger after all, so why dwell on the past and give him the satisfaction?" Azenda is impressed by Sephie's detached demeanor, her own heart skipping a beat upon realization she had just passed by the madman who had created the very woman who was the source of all her current problems.

Upon reaching the last door, this one sealed off differently than the last, Sephie was impressed as Sephie removed her veil to allow the ocular scanner to read her. "Sephie Michela Deviluke," she announces to the yellow camera installed over the door, before the ceiling suddenly opens to reveal a massive weapon pointed directly at her, "And guest." The hurried addition seems to appease the weapon, as it shuts down and retracts into the ceiling, with Sephie sheepishly turning to Azenda. "I apologize, I sometimes forget I am the only one that Gid deemed access to this specific door, since he agreed with me that the Pearl must be protected at all costs," Sephies states as Azenda nods, before the door begins to open to reveal the inside, "Now, we aren't done yet." Azenda sees the door opens to reveal a small five by five metal box, as Sephie steps inside and motions for Azenda to follow. As she does so, she turns towards Sephie to question where the Pearl was, when the Charmian speaks once more. "I've been told that screaming helps relieve the nausea," she simply instructs cryptically, "Hold on..."

As Azenda is about to ask what exactly she means, she feels the floor seem to go out from under her, and begins to let out a massive, drawn out scream. Before she can even get her bearings, she sees that she hasn't even moved from the metal box, meaning the metal box was moving of its own accord, and plummeting at a rapid pace. Besides her, Sephie merely hums a tune as she checks her nails, as if plummeting to their deaths were an everyday occurrence. Her veil is flying upwards as the forces are dragging them down, exposing the unconcerned expression clear as day in her bright eyes. After what seems like an eternity of falling, it feels as if they are slowing down, and Azenda realizes that while they are decelerating, she has yet to fall to the floor and crush all her bones in the impact. It is then that she realizes she should have hit the ceiling when they dropped, and then logic begins to kick in, and Azenda stops screaming. "Ah, done with that bit now?" Sephie states, as they seem to come to a final halt, gently floating down to the ground, "A bit of anti-gravity plating in the floor and ceiling tiles, means it acts as a small cushion slash pocket of weightlessness when you move up or down; they disengage while at rest." Sephie looks forward as the doors slowly groan open, opening into a larger white room.

Unlike the hallway above, this room doesn't go further than a few feet, where a single door sits waiting to be opened. "Is this... is this it?" she asked, a bit surprised that it was as simple as crossing a few feet to a door and into another room, "No tricks, or traps, just... walk in and the Pearl is there?" Sephie nods, then walks over to a set of chairs and a low table that looks cut from the same sterile white material the room is made up out of.

"Yeah, since I'm the only one who could possibly be here, what is the need for security?" Sephie rhetorically states, "It helps that even if you enter that room, even if she is the one who wants to talk to you, there is a slight chance that from my point of view you never walk out of that room again, which means to you, none of this ever happened at all." Azenda raises an eye at that, and Sephie merely shrugs with a smile. "I learned a lot about what that Pearl does after all," Sephie says, as Azenda begins to slowly walk over to the door, "Don't worry about me, if you don't come out in five minutes I'll just assume you made your choice." At that, Azenda put her hand on the doorknob with an un-amused chuckle, before opening the pristine white door and walking into the room that lay beyond.

 _Five Minutes Later_

Azenda closes the door behind her, a little bit paler, a little bit wiser. "I know what must be done," she states somberly, before looking over towards Sephie with a half-hearted smile, "Thank you, for giving me what I always wanted, leave the rest up to me." Sephie nods and moves toward the elevator, while Azenda follows her inside. She tucks the white fabric that trails out of her pockets a bit deeper in, and smiles as the doors close.

* * *

 _Now_

Lala quickly hovers over the strange object, wondering why the bow tied object is sitting innocently on her desk, and what it contains. She almost thought it was some sick present gifted to her from Lacospo, even though she knew it couldn't possibly be from him, as he had left and entered his room the same time as hers, as his own ring was a weapon that could be used against him if that were the case. Counting all her options, she decided to see what the package's contents were, curiosity just a little bit too strong on the part of her inquisitive mind. Pulling at the bow delicately, she finds it comes away with little effort, leaving just a box sitting on her bed now. Crossing her legs as she sits upon her bed, she gently takes the box by the lid, and removes the lid in one swift motion, closing her eyes in case it was something designed to hurt her. To her surprise it was a simple white handkerchief, emblazoned on it was her Mother's initials, something she had never seen before, as it was written with her maiden name. That was when she noticed it was actually covering something else up, a slight bulge beneath the folded object as it rested upon the mysterious present contained within. She smiled as she removed the handkerchief, only for it to morph into horror. She dropped the box like it was on fire, and the object within rolled backwards, gently to a stop as it was dragged down by the imprint of 0her body weight resting on the flexible material of the bed. She shimmied up towards her headboard as she panicked, looking around her room to see if someone was just going to step out of the shadows and say it was all a dream, but the reality was something far worse.

The White Taoists Pearl sat before her, serenely undisturbed as she shifted her weight away from the pearl like it was poison to the touch. She thought she should go get her mother, maybe call her Father, possibly beg her sisters to get Rito so he could deal with whatever, or whoever, it was that gifted such an extraordinarily dangerous object as that was to her. "So which do you choose?" a voice suddenly asks from the darkness of her room, causing Lala to look around her in fright, "Do you call Daddy, begging him to come and remove the 'dangerous artifact', or ask your Mother why the pearl has left her side, or perhaps you would rather beg your beloved Rito to come and save you, break down and spill all your dirty little secrets to him, just like your heart is wanting an excuse to do just so..." She looks around for the source of the voice, melodious laughter like the tinkling of bells coming from every direction she could listen. Suddenly a shape forms from the shadows, and a long, green haired woman in formal dress walks towards her, before resting on the side of her bed, smiling at her. "Perhaps I can give you a fourth option, Lala-chi," the young looking woman states, one eye shining a brilliant blue, while the other is hidden by her bangs, "My name is Paras, but my friends call me Eki, and I Lala, happen to be your fairy godmother, wish granting genie, and all around friend, all packed up into one single Pearl."

She moves forward, not even leaving an indent on the bed as if she wasn't there, drawing closer to Lala. "You have some choices to make, many choices in fact, as I just sit here and all those thoughts and situations run through your head," Eki states, still smiling, "You are unsure who I am, how I got here, but you have the Pearl here, don't you?" Lala nods, which causes Eki's grin to grow wider. "Good, good, you're learning!" she laughs, getting up from the bed and twirling in place, "Okay, so, your not-yet mother and your not-quite-friend Azenda found the Pearls long ago, stumbled upon my cavern where I had laid them to rest centuries, millennia beforehand, and they just assumed I was a hologram, but I am So. Much. More!" Se laughs and dances around the rooms, exploring the sights, smells, and colors of the tiny room. "A thousand years later and a rose is still a rose, and people still choose," she says out of the blue, "People also tend to make mistakes, whether its misplacing trust, taking a left when they should have gone right, or as in your case, they find themselves marrying the wrong guy..." She disappears while exploring the right side of the room, only for Lala to jump as she appeared suddenly from her blind spot on her left side. "But I can work with that!" she laughs at Lala's expense, before smiling and kneeling against the bed, looking up at Lala with a smile and her head resting in her hands, "Girls like you have many options, so make a choice, and you can have any of them at your fingertips, wipe away your mistakes, so bring out a list and mark your pros and cons, because tonight Lady Lala, you're getting a husband who isn't that stinky, purple lipped loser that wants to only get in your pants!" She rubs up against Lala with her back, causing Lala to move away in confusion.

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand, who are you and what are you saying?" Lala states, before exasperatingly closing and opening her eyes to straighten out her thoughts, "I mean, I know who you are, obviously since you just explained it, but what do you hope to do that I can't regarding this ring on my finger?" Eki pops up and grabs Lala's hand none to gently, before fishing out a monocle from her scantily clad robe and putting it close to her eye to get a good look at the cut and clarity of the ring's diamonds.

"Wow, artificial diamonds that react to a person's mood, real nice shine to that silver there, and... oh, is this trans-metamorphic soul metal?" she looks up with a beaming smile on her face, "My, oh my, you just might have to keep this ring, this ring is practically a lost piece of art that could have been crafted by a real Taoist, back in the day!" Suddenly Lala finds herself lacking the ring on her finger, as Eki is holding it up to the light to really get a good look at that.

"Give that back!" Lala states with pure panic and terror lacing her voice, as she scrambles to retrieve the ring, slipping it back on her finger with mere microseconds to spare, "Don't ever do that again!" Suddenly she finds herself staring at empty space, where once there was a being, which causes Lala to blink in confusion. She feels a tap on her shoulder, and she jumps as she turns back to find Eki calmly waving.

"Hello, yes, sorry, I should have warned you that I was scrambling the microexplosive with a feedback loop, probably wouldn't try it again, obviously," she states with a bit of a laugh, "But your right, I'm being extremely rude, its just being cooped up in a white room with no color even though its a change in the same dreary scenery, finding myself in a room full of color with a real, living,breathing princess... ooooh, let's try this again!" She snaps, disappearing in a flash of light back into the shadows. Lala takes the moment to look at the Pearl still resting in the middle of her bed, wondering if she was currently being induced with hallucinations by the Pearl. "Yes, well, it is the Pearl, but I am not a hallucination!" Eki states, as she slowly coalesces into her physical form again, "I'm a high-energy physical manifestation tied mentally to a device with extra-physical, mind bending, spatio-temporal properties." Lala looks to her in confusion, and she shrugs. "In layman's terms, I'm a really advanced hologram that may, or may not, have been a real person at one point in time," she states with a much calmer demeanor, "Think of me as a more advanced version of your friend Shizu, just no desire for a corporeal body to inhabit, or any body, really." She hugs Lala, which is odd for her to be able to do, if she didn't have a corporeal body and was basically a manifestation of photons.

"Ok," Lala simply said, shrugging and deciding to go with it, "Honestly, if a Black Pearl can give Rito superpowers, I guess I can be friends with a non-corporeal slash hologram being that inhabits a White Pearl..." She stares at her Eki as she states that, then blinks dazed and confused at herself. "I'm sorry, what was I saying?" she asks, "I think I just hurt my brain..." Eki merely pats her on the head at that, before standing in front of her properly.

"I'm here to give you a choice, Lala-hime," Eki states as she just stands there, "You don't want to marry Lacospo, I'll give you credit that your determined to undermine him at great personal cost, but you don't see the bigger picture like I do..." She crosses her arms as Lala turns her attention to the woman fully. "If you choose Lacospo, Rito is hurt, if you chose Rito, Rito is still going to be hurt regardless, just more painfully than if you choose Lacospo," suddenly she waves her hands and ghostly images of her previous suitors, people she had just seen hours ago by now, appeared and disappeared around her, "But choose any of these men, and Rito goes free, Lala, he would never be hurt by Lacospo or anyone involved with you..." Suddenly images of Rito being hunted, bitten at, shot at, strangled, thwacked, mind-controlled, etc. Appeared to swirl around and playback like memories on a movie screen before her. "I don't want to se you hurt," Eki states, a look of concern on her face as she kneels down again to grab Lala's hands and plead with her, "If you just pick up the Pearl, make your decision, make your choice, and Rito leaves unharmed and scot-free... just touch the Pearl, and your worries will All. Be. Over..." Lala gazes longingly into the Pearl, hurt and scared as she finds situations and what-ifs flying like a storm through her mind, until a single memory rings clear through her head like a bell, anchoring her and bringing her back to reality.

"No," she unsteadily states, closing her eyes and taking a few, calm breathes, chasing the stray thoughts from her head, "No, I can't give up on Rito like that, not when he's here, not when I am so close now, not when I have hope!" She opens her eyes and Eki is gone, the Pearl still sitting on the bed untouched. Taking out the embroidered reminder of her Mother's checkered past, she wraps the Pearl in the silk wrap once more, tying it tightly while avoiding touching the smooth object with her bare skin. The temptation was real, but she couldn't give in.

" _Just you wait_ ," Eki's voice seemed to whisper in the darkness, " _You'll be wishing you took my offer..._ " The chill in the air was palpable, but she chalked it up to the late hour of the night, and the reality that she was tired and half dressed, naked skin exposed to the cool night air and the cold marble flooring. She needed sleep now, especially if she was to enact her plans tomorrow. She just hoped that Rito would intervene when the time came, she was counting on him now.

 **A/N: 17,957 words and counting as I type this up, 17,970. Anyway, enough about the length of this chapter. =D I thank all my loyal fans who came to read this A/N, and who have been commenting on my story. I am reading them after all, so keep being great reviewers! So, have I confused you enough with all the jumping between times? Where do you all think this will be going now? Will there be any weight to Eki's words, or will something else come out of them entirely? Not even I know until I pen (type) down these words! Have a great winter break, and don't expect any updates for a while, since family issues have been coming up that may break my updates until mid-winter. But fear not, I will attempt to update as soon as I can, though I may leave you all to stew awhile, until your nice, juicy reviews come flowing out! Maybe I'm just hungry though... (o_0)? 18,132**


	40. To-Love You

**A/N: Hi everyone! I do not own To Love Ru...**

* * *

 _The Morning of Lala's Marriage_

Rito wakes up with a headache and a groan, sitting up from the bed provided him last night by the Deviluke sisters, Rito glanced around the spar room meant for servants, and noticed a pitcher of ice water on the stand, with a glass and a note on it. He gratefully takes the provided glass and pours himself a drink, since it was obvious that the latent effects he was feeling from the juice he drank last night, had turned into a hangover. Taking a look at the note through blurry eyes, despite the pounding in his head, Rito read the note.

 _Rito,_

 _Saw you were asleep, left a note to inform you breakfast is in dining hall, will save a seat for you at the girl's table._

 _Nakajima_

Blinking as he processed the note, Rito yawned and chose at this moment to get up from his bed and search for some clothes. He quickly looked down and suddenly began to turn beat read, as he rushed towards the pile of clothes on his dresser to grab the most important garment he needed. He didn't know how, why, or when, but someone stripped him last night and took all of his clothes, yet everything after Momo and the others informing him about Lala's engagement seemed to be a blur. Suddenly a spike of pain was driven into the base of his skull, and Rito quickly puts a hand to his head to find an engorged lump there. Suddenly the memory of last night gained clarity. After he had gotten into the shower to freshen up after the dinner and head to bed, someone had knocked on his door and let themselves in, asking for all his clothes in the meantime. To his surprise they had actually come into the bathroom without warning, asking for his suit while informing him his other clothes had been washed, which had actually scared Rito and caused him to lose a grip on the bar of soap he was using. That was when things got a little bit more fuzzy, but he remembered clear enough as another tally to his clumsiness caused him to slip on the soap and tear the curtains off the shower rod, as he tumbled straight onto whomever the unlucky soul it was that had been kind enough to wash his items.

He must have hit his head when he scrambled backwards, slipping on the soap again, no doubt. Thankfully besides a headache, it didn't seem to leave him with amnesia or any other permanent damage. In fact despite the pain, it didn't seem to be swollen that bad. He just hoped that the poor person had been forced to drag him into bed like that,already traumatized by being attacked by their guest. So it was with equal parts humiliation, embarrassment, and mortification that he started his day off walking into the dining hall for breakfast, after having gotten properly dressed in fresh clothes. And after a few minutes surveying the dining hall, Rito found the table where his friends and family were sitting.

"So, you finally come to join us at breakfast, have you?" Kuro states, an impish smile framing his mouth as he stares at him, motioning for him to come join them, "I heard an interesting story from someone last night, after you nearly gave them a death scare." At that Rito's eyes grow wide at her words, and a flash of unfamiliar pink hair runs through his mind.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Rito stutters out with nervous chuckles, "I- don't really remember what happened last night..." He sits down as a tray of food is set in front of him, a servant having appeared from nowhere in particular to drop of the hot plate of food. Mea's growing grin from across the table hadn't lessened, and it made Rito increasingly nervous as he bit into the stack of what he was assumed where Deviluke's equivalent of pancakes.

"Oh, okay then, I guess Peke was lying then..." Nana nonchalantly adds from her place on the table, as she hums and turns away, "It's too bad, since I was told she was nice enough to not take off the broken shower curtain until she got you in bed." Rito sputters at that, eliciting a few giggles from the group of girls, except for Yami, Mikan, and Kuro, the last of whom guffawed. Rito merely sunk into his chair and kept eating, lowering his head in embarrassment. Nana laughed out loud, smiling in Rito's direction. "Don't worry so much about it, Peke is great at keeping secrets anyway," she states with a smile, "She was just a bit shocked since she assumed you had heard her come in, it was just your rotten luck that caused one of your accidental perversions... thankfully though she was in her non-humanoid mode, so she managed to dodge your 'godly' act of indecency." His ears were bright red at that, much to the humor of the group.

"Enough teasing Rito, we all know we're all just trying to lighten the mood, but that doesn't change anything," Momo states, oddly serious for once in this situation, "Lala is getting married in two hours, and we still haven't managed to figure out just how we plan to stop this wedding yet." The mood suddenly shifts with that revelation, as they all feel the added pressure of reality bearing down.

Yami puts down her book, and looks up with a neutral expression towards the rest of the people at the table. The cover 'Ancient Laws of Deviluke' surprises the rest of them, and they turn to look at the living weapon. "This book I borrowed from the palace library, it contains all the relevant data regarding laws still in effect after the consolidation of power under King Gid's rule and establishment of his galactic body of ruler ship," the clone of Tearju states monotonously, "There is an ancient charter dating back a few thousand years, with a rule that requires a period of grace between the marriage of a high ranking official and one of lower status, with a clause regarding succession of kingdoms." She opens the book and pushes it in Momo and Nana's direction, both sisters grabbing the tome to pear at its pages together.

"Apparently the law states that if a princess, lady, or other high ranking official of the court is to be married off as a matter to the regards of heirs and succession of the kingdom, apparently there is a period of time when someone can challenge the fiance if they are viewed as a corruptive influence, or proven unfit to lead," Nana reads, before Momo pulls it away and gets closer into it, "If the princess has chosen her betrothed from among the common folk this law allows others of higher, or lower, rank to challenge the betrothed to a duel to prove their worth, with the losers title, their land, and any possessions they owned becoming the winners by right of victor." Momo looks up from the book and smiles gleefully at Yami.

"How in the world did you find this?" she asks the living weapon, "It'll take some cross checking, but if it doesn't conflict with any of the established rulings our Father has made, Rito may just have a chance." At that Nana takes the book from Momo once again, and reads it puzzled.

"How is that possible, sis?" she asks, as she reads the lines once more to see if she missed something, before looking up at Momo with confusion, "It says that Lala would have to be marrying someone of lower rank to allow that clause to come into effect." Momo nods, then points to the section once more.

"Right, if that was the pat I was referring too, Rito wouldn't have a chance since Lacospo is of equal rank to us socially, but here in the first part of the clause, I think we have a chance with the wording they use here," she states, and Nana's eyes light up in understanding, "It says 'any high official' and 'matters of succession', so the notions that someone can be challenged on the grounds of corruption or proof of being unfit to lead, would allow even someone like Rito to challenge Lacospo, since the clause would essentially go into effect regardless at that point." Rito wasn't as convinced as the others were, but he had some hope to hold onto now.

 _Lala's Room_  
 _Later_

The princess of Deviluke was loathe to wear this dress for anyone save the person she had dreamed about, but it was too late to change the design or colors and it would take a miracle to do anything about it. Suddenly she heard knocking at her door, and figured it was the servant she asked to fetch her a fresh pair of shoes from the castle's cobblers, since they had been designing the new shoes she had asked for since two nights ago. Despite the fact she could easily get a mass produced pair capable of fitting her just fine from any of the shops on Deviluke, there was a reason the castle still had shoemakers on their staff, despite the advancement of technology; the cobblers were noted as one of the best in the universe, utilizing even the most inferior of materials to make fine shoes that fit their wearer to the utmost of their comfort. Without Peke at her side, or the technology from her lab to create the temporary buttons, Lala had to rely on the tailors and cobblers to create the traditional wedding gown her mother had insisted she wore. The newly crafted gown held to Deviluke tradition in practicality and comfort, while it enhanced her features in certain areas, reflecting an aspect of her Charmian heritage.

Unlike the puffy monstrosity she had been admiring, this gown lacked covering of her shoulders, exposing her assets just so, while also obscuring it fittingly with a skin toned, invisible neckline. The tiara she would wear retained its veil, while reducing it greatly in length so it just trailed over the mid-area of her shoulders. The train, too, was reduced making the length of the actual gown at her ankles, though the underskirt went a little bit further to give it length, thankfully it was split up to her knees. This was allowing her a bit more freedom in her movement, while also accompanying to her tail by allowing it room, instead of having it hanging out from behind, or forcing it to be restrained under heavy clothing. She was paradoxically happy, despite the nerves she felt knowing she would be using this dress to marry Lacospo, not Rito. The ill feeling only grew as the clocked ticked down, showing how little time she had to enjoy her freedom, unless Rito defends her honor and challenges Lacospo. Still she forces the unease down, and once again realizes she had gotten lost in her thoughts as the knocking renews on her door.

Going over to the door, she opened it to be greeted by a massive bouquet of Andrusian lilies in a wicker basket, along with her requested shoes contained with the box stamped with the cobblers mark, though the girl who was delivering was obscured by the tall, white flowers , as the small woman struggled to balance the two items in her small grip. "Oh my, let me help you with that; just put the shoes on the bed," Lala states as an order, grabbing the lilies from the woman, her vision obscured by knowing exactly where to put the flowers, "Thank you so much for delivering these flowers, who are they from?" She turns with a breathless smile, before it falters at seeing the girl before her. Messy, pink hair kept tight with two circular disks acting as 'buns', that were actually her transformed cybernetic parts disguised as hair ornaments, uniquely pale skin, and sharp, pink eyes that are darker where ones irises would be, the white uniform she had programmed her with replaced with a bridesmaid's dress that seemed to flawlessly match the one she wore.

"I'm sorry Lala-sama, but you wouldn't answer my requests to meet with you, so I intercepted your maid and acquired the lilies from Momo-sama," Peke states with a smile, her pupils contracting and refocusing as she simulates a shy smile, "She sends her best wishes, and your happiness, though I do not always understand her sometimes, she genuinely wishes for you to be happy." Lala turns away for a moment to hide the tear she wipes from her eye, but Peke's sensitive ocular enhancements in her human form catch it in the reflection of her mirror. "Lala-sama- Lala," Peke states frankly, concern in her voice, which surprises Lala as she turns to see actual concern on her creations face, "I- We, are all worried for you to have made such a rash and hasty choice in choosing Lacospo as your marriage mate." Lala attempts to hide her emotion, and lets Peke continue to speak. "History has shown that Lacospo is vain, self-indulgent, narrow minded, duplicitous, and has shown no care for you regard; overall a perfect example of one ill fit to be your queen," Peke surmises, causing Lala to feel more and more regret and guilt as her words weigh heavier than the dress, "But, as your sole companion for many years, I know that tactically you are shrewd, caring for the best interests of your people first, when applicable, and I am hazarding a guess that you have an endgame for Lacospo; data provided most recently has allowed me to extrapolate the most likely outcome, that your knowledge of ancient law allows you to make Lacospo a scapegoat and example, to ensure Rito's succession of the throne goes unchallenged before everyone." Lala doesn't know if her heart just skipped a beat, or if it was just her nerves, but the unwavering smirk on her creations lips showed that she had advanced way beyond her programming limitations yet again, always a source of constant surprise to the princess.

"Yes, you are quite correct Peke, I do plan on using Lacospo, I feared that Rito would not arrive in time to prevent my marriage from being unchallenged," she says with a hesitant smile towards her creation, "Unfortunately Lacospo has seemed to have silenced everyone, including Rito, at the engagement party; I do not quite know if Rito is aware I still have feelings for him." At that Peke giggled at her creators expense, a passing look of confusion on Lala's face.

"Rito was far from non-vocal about your marriage last night, Lala, it seems that your sisters are just as shrewd as you, as they planned to intoxicate Rito with the same juice that they found made Sairenji act drunk," Peke states with a smile, causing Lala to brighten and even giggle at the image of a drunken Rito, "Suffice to say, I do not know how Rito plans to challenge Lacospo, since someone must accuse him of being unfit to rule, or your marriage will become binding." Lala nods, well aware of this fact, sighing as she sits down on her bed to open her shoes to observe them.

"Unfortunately as his fiancee, I am unable to raise my own objections despite being crown princess, though I am sure Momo and Nana will be able to," Lala states, frustration crossing her eyes as she struggles to fight through her dress to put the shoes on, "The... greater... problem, is getting evidence of his ill repute, as the word of my sisters may be cast as being bias towards my favor." Peke gently grabs the shoes from her hands, then bends down on her knees to help slip the shoes onto Lala's feet.

"If it were to come from someone else, anyone else, there would be no question or doubt of bias, but achieving that is hard, as those who are aware of his misdeeds are either in doubt with their relations towards me, or were more than likely bought out by Lacospo prior to arranging his annulment with Azenda,who would also be cast in doubt if she were to object," Lala states, smiling as she takes in her new shoes gratefully, "Thank you Peke, your knowledge of everything makes me feel better; I felt so terrible having to stay away form you, but I couldn't just let anyone know." Peke merely nods, putting a hand on her shoulder and grabbing Lala's hand to squeeze it gently. Suddenly another knock was at the door, and unlike Peke's surprise visit, Lala knew it was time. Covering herself with the veil, Lala quietly opened the door, flanked by Peke, and followed the maid who was to keep the bare minimum distance between the groomed Lacospo and his bride to be.

* * *

 _Elsewhere_

The cargo hold of Lacospo's ship had yet to be emptied of its unusual guest, the process of removing the dangerous creature, who snapped and snarled at any of the Devilukean's who attempted to transfer the monstrous Drasuke to a holding pen, halted due to the sudden wedding proceedings. The desire was that princess Nana, with her connection to animals and her history combating the most dangerous of life forms to add to her own menagerie, would be able to calm the beast and allow veterinarians to check the poor, half-starved beast for diseases or other conditions. The beast was slumbering peacefully when it smelt a new scent on the wind, opening its eyes half-lidded to inquire why this new scent held no fear. She nearly checked herself when the bold intruder into her territory casually approached her, before raising a massive object and skewering it into the confounded device that acted as the invisible shield that kept her in. With the force field gone, she intended to scare this new being into submission, until she felt a dark presence cause her ever wary instincts to cry out against this idea. Causing her eyes to turn into slits, she stares down this not-prey, before taking a deep sniff and refocusing her attention on other new sights and smells that she could classify as prey, their warm blood and sweat exciting her senses. Lumbering off in no particular direction, the entity smiles as he watches her go.

* * *

 _The Wedding_

Nana and Momo are sitting with their mother at their seats in the front of the audience, Rito and the others in the row behind theirs, among other guests and diplomats fortunate enough to hold strong ties to Deviluke. It was then that Nana was approached by a hurried maid, one that sounded desperate and pleading in her hushed but forceful whispers. It took Nana seconds for her angry expression at being interrupted at her sisters wedding, before she turned to Momo and spoke with her in low tones, causing surprise to rise up onto her own face. At that both sisters excused themselves to their mother, and without a word to Rito or the others, exited the room to deal with urgent matters. "What was that?" Rito asked Sephie from behind, "Queen Sephie, is everything okay with Lala and Peke?" The queen turned to face Rito, before speaking in a hushed tone.

"It appears that there was a malfunction on Lacospo's ship, a creature that was awaiting transport to be cleared for medical reasons, has escaped into the palace grounds," she grimaces, "Thankfully so far everyone has been busy on this side of the palace, but concerns over the creature running rampant has called for both Nana and her sister to reason, and if necessary, restrain the beast before any diplomatic incidents occur." Rito clenches his fists at that, hoping the girls return in time, since they were critical to bringing up the matter of Lacospo's fitness as a leader.

Before Sephie can console him, noticing his change in mood, the music suddenly starts up, with Lacospo entering the foyer where the wedding is being held, shortly followed by various other wedding parties in their turn. Rito notices that among them is Ren, and Run, acting symbolically as ring bearer for the former, and as flower girl for the latter. This surprised him, as he had assumed both had just remained at their homes on Earth, though being Lala's friend, he realizes should not be as surprised as he is. Suddenly the music changes, and the duo of Peke and a nondescript guard as Maid of Honor and Best Man, are overshadowed by the pair of King Gid and a veiled Lala. The wedding march is over shortly, having to stay within the constrictions of the ten meter field, but all is well by the time Gid hands Lala off to stand at the altar with Lacospo in front of the alien minister. As the others take their place, silence fills the auditorium.

"Friends, we gather here this day to officiate the wedding of Crown Princess Lala Satalin Deviluke of the Deviluke Empire, and her joining to the Prince of Gaama, Lacospo of Gaama," the officiator states, "Both Lacospo and Lala have informed me beforehand that they wish to skip their vows, though at the behest of King Gid and a few members of the royal family, I have been informed to ask that this time be used to observe an ancient Devilukean custom." Lacospo raises an eye at this in confusion, while Lala opens her eyes a little in shock, as the minister turns to face the crowd. "According to the ancient traditions of Deviluke when a high official is to be married, as Crown Princess Lala is today, a period of time is granted to any who believe that these two should not be wed, to speak and bring up due reason why Prince Lacospo of Gaama is unfit to marry the princess." Suddenly the whispers that had been going relatively unheard, become a clamor of confusion and excitement, as the crowd buzzes to see if anyone is foolish enough to react.

"What is this?" Lacospo announces, as he turns to the officiator and Lala in turn, "Did you put him up to this; did she put you up to this?" He snarls as the justice acts surprised at his outburst, while Lala remains cool and collected. "Fine, then as it is my right, I refer also to a law of my own people, that of defense of claim, to clear my name of any who challenge me," Lacospo states as he turns to address the crowd, "If any of you filthy simpletons believe you can challenge my worth after revealing the First Sword of Chronos in my possession, I dare you to speak up now, or forever hold your idiocy inside of you!" Rito suddenly and nervously looks back to see if Momo or Nana were yet to return, but knowing his luck they would be off on the other side of the palace by now. He takes this moment to take a calm, cleansing breath as he steadies his pounding heart, waiting for anyone to speak up. As Lacospo is about to break into a fit, Rito stands up and silences the whole room. Even Lacospo is shocked that the earth boy had suddenly stood.

Rito slowly walks out into the isle, and looks up and straight into Lacospo's eyes. He puts a hand to his belt, the scabbard showing proudly to the room and view of everyone, including the toad prince. "I wonder how you can claim to be the master of the First Blade, Lacospo, when the blade you wield is merely an inferior copy you cooked up to scare everyone," Rito announces, fears behind him as he begins to talk, "I'd like to see how your sword holds up against mine, considering I had just recently come into possession of..." Rito pulls Adam out of his scabbard, bade shining and gleaming in the light of the room.

"Oh, please Rito Yuuki, do you think I would be so stupid as to come wielding a fake sword?" Lacospo states, calling his words a bluff, "I don't know how you copied my sword so perfectly, but your challenge is hollow, Rito Yuuki, without a legal aspect to your objection." Rito grips his handle tightly at that remark, as Lacospo has them there. "What, no words to speak now that you are standing?" Lacospo taunts with a smirk, "Even if your sword was real, you lost your chance to marry Lala, since she picked me!" The crowd begins to murmur at that, and Rito begins to rack his brains trying to figure out how he can stall the procession any further, hoping that at any moment Momo or Nana would come to his rescue and say something.

"I will contest this marriage on Rito's behalf, I have reason to believe Lacospo is unfit to rule, and believe Rito's challenge has merit!" a voice speaks from somewhere in the crowd of people. Lacospo suddenly narrows his eyes and searches for the voice, as does Rito, Lala, and the others in the crowd, who look around themselves. Suddenly a familiar figure steps out into the isle form a few rows back, and both Rito and Lacospo go bug-eyed, recognizing the woman who steps forward. "I am Lady Adrisin of Gaama, the fifth in line for the throne, and daughter to the Royal Queen and King of Gaama," she announces, looking at Lacospo with thinly veiled disgust, "While I have not known Rito Yuuki for long, I recognize that the kind, caring man wants only what is best for the Princess of Deviluke, he would make a fine King; my brother on the other hand is a lying, deceiving, slanderous man." Rito is aghast at the revelation that Adrisin was Lacospo's family, due to the differences in biology, a look shared by Lacospo, though filled tenfold with contempt. "I have heard about my brothers failed attempts at wooing the Princess, and time and again my brother would blame a selfish, perverted, anarchist savage who tricked Lala into loving him, even going so far as to 'force' her into sharing his bed, a slander not only to Rito's credit, but against the very woman he now proclaims his want to marry?" she states, turning tot he assembled crowd, "On my way to attend this ceremony, our transport was attacked by Pirates, pirates whom the G.P.D have informed us, were anonymously hired through the Black Market Consortium to specifically target the Royal Queen and King of Gaama, though a failed attack as I was sent last minute in their place."

The shock form the crowd was palpable, as it was the indignation and anger coming from King Gid, who turned towards Lacospo with a look that was truly murderous in intent, before Adrisin continued to speak. "Upon hitting a quantum mine, our ships distress beacon was found by Rito and his ship and crew, and with only a few Dazuul Seeds, and First Sword in hand, Rito bordered our ship with one other member of his crew, taking out not only the pirates attacking our ship and the diplomats they were ferrying," Adrisin announces loudly before turning back to Lacospo, "He escorted us safely into Deviluke space, and upon questioning his intent to come here against my Brothers own stories of the man I thought I knew, he told me a tale of how my brother had kidnapped Princess Momo, threatened bodily harm if Lala did not give herself up in exchange, and how he was coming to Deviluke to stop the engagement all together..." With that she looks to Rito and motions for him to step up, which he does and approaches the altar, sword aloft.

"Now, Lacospo, with our legal grounds established, I ask you now again!" Rito states, more confidently as a wide grin splits his face, "I declare you unfit to marry Lala, so pick up that blade and face me in trial by combat, for the marriage of Lala, for your right to the throne, and all that is yours, according to ancient Deviluke law, if I have that right?" He looks to Gid, who nods in response. Lacospo pales as he sees Gid approve of Rito's actions, before looking around the room and seeing all his options are closing down. Suddenly he sneers at the rest of the room, the judging looks, and the hate filled eyes.

"Very well, it seems like you have me cornered, and if my sword is a fake as you claim, we both know I don't have a chance against you," Lacospo states, as he weighs his options out calmly, "Then you all leave me no choice, if I can't have a wedding, I'll annul our engagement!" Suddenly Lacospo has a grip on Lala's hand and her ring, tightly grabbing her wrist and ring finger. "If you come any closer, I will pull this ring off and kill us both, unless you listen to my demands," Lacospo announces, as Rito freezes, "Sweetie, will you come up here so we can get my ring back from this harlot; if I can't win by marrying a princess, I would rather kill us both than lose my fortune to her..." Suddenly a sultry, fair-skinned Devilukean walks forward from the servants seating, bleach-blonde hair giving her an exotic look compared to the black and brown normal to their physiology. "This is Eris, and she is to be my new betrothed..." Lacospo states, "You will allow the minister to end our engagement, and hand the ring over to Eris, or I blow your precious whore up, Rito Yuuki, King Gid." If Gid wasn't aware of the seriousness of this threat, he would have gutted Lacospo there and then, instead he begrudgingly nods towards the minister.

The minister widens his eyes at this, then chooses to clear his throat in response. "Very well, ahem, as unorthodox as this is, it appears I shall be annulling your engagement," the minister states, looking around at Lala and Lacospo, who now has the bleach blonde girl he had called up hanging off the arm that has his hand around her ring, "If no one objects, let the engagement of Lala Satalin Deviluke, and Lacospo of Gaama be annulled, as objectives have been found that put the union of these two souls into question, you may now return the ring." Suddenly both rings dim in color and luster, as the rings deactivate their safety protocols, awaiting a new partner to be found.

"You won't get away with this, brother!" Adrisin announces, surprising Lacospo slightly as he hears her speak up, "With the power invested in me, by the Queen and King of Gaama, I Adrisin of Gaama, fifth in line for the throne, declare Lacospo of Gaama incompetent of rule, authorization Sidris Eleven!" Suddenly the color of Lala's diamonds are lost, as if the Ring acknowledged the codeword, turning bright silver as well, much to the surprise of Lacospo. Lala breaks her hand free from Lacospo's grip, slipping the ring off of it as she chooses to punch the toad in the face. Lacospo is stopped by the woman hanging onto his arm tightly, as he holds up his hand to his newly split lip. He puts a hand to his lip and finds a pit of blood on his fingers.

"You absolute bi..." before he can even finish that sentence the woman who had been helping him stand gave him a left cross, knocking him out cold. She then slipped the ring off of his finger to admire it in the light, as it lost its opaque color and transformed into a lustrous silver, the pink and green gems losing their color and becoming translucent once more. The surprise on everyone's face as the girl just smiled and wiped the blood from her knuckles on Lacospo's fancy tuxedo. She also picks up the ring that had tumbled from Lacospo's grasp in the fall.

"Here take the ring!" the woman states as she walks calmly over to the teen and places it in his hand, "I might wipe a bit of the blood off of Lala's ring though..." Rito is looking on in confusion at both of the silver rings in his hand, while everyone else is merely panicking in response at the fact that Rito is holding two micro-explosives so calmly. Rito audibly thanks her for that before turning his attention to a more important person, leaving the steps of the altar behind for Lala.

"Are you okay Lala?" Rito asked as he grabbed her hands to calm her, as she breaks down in his arms, "It's alright now Lala, he can't hurt you anymore." Rito turns to see Gid personally brandishing the pointed end of his tail towards Lacospo's soft throat, until two guards arrived to drag Lacospo off into the dungeon. His exit was hastily followed by the approach of Adrisin, who bowed to the King in passing, before standing before Lala and Rito, and turning her attention onto Rito.

"Lord Rito, I humbly acknowledge you as victor over the former prince of Gaama, and ask- no, I plead that this incident not mar the relationship between the kingdoms of Deviluke and Gaama," the woman states, before lowering her head, "According to the ancient law, all of Lacospo's possessions, his land, and his Title now belong to you, Lord Rito; as Princess Lala had intended to marry Lacospo this day, perhaps a wedding may yet still take place?" Rito widens his eyes at this, as does Lala, before the woman smiles and looks up at the both of them. "I may be a stranger to your relationship, Princess, but a man who went this far to save you from such a manipulative man, surely deserves your hand, if not your heart," she states before coyly smiling at Rito, "Though I hear that the feeling may be reciprocated, verily, so don't let my Brother's arrogance get in the way of your feelings." She goes to step back and return to her seat, but she swivels at the last second with a contemplative look on her face. "Oh, and there might be another thing I forgot to mention about those lovely rings of yours," she states, as Rito and Lala raise their eyebrows together, "Together both allow access to a small fortune portioned off to my brother, in recompense for all your troubles with him you may come to Gaama to acquire the liquidated assets of Lacospo's valuables at anytime; the Royal family would gladly lend you our private moon for your honeymoon as well!" Adrisin walks up grabs a ring from Rito's open palm to examine, producing a tablet that she placed the ring on, her breather bubbling as she mutely studies the results.

She smiles when she gets the results she is looking for. "Good news everyone, the rings are inactive thanks to the shutdown code I was given, so no chance of setting off any of its self defensive measurements," Adrisin smiles, her head fins flaring outwards, "The bad news is that if they aren't reactivated within an hour, the micro-explosives will detonate." Everyone takes a step back at that, with Rito staying where he was out of confusion of not knowing what they were talking about. "Now let me guess, he told you that the microexplosive could do bodily damage?" Adrisin asks, her voice rising a bit out of exasperation, as she put a hand to her forehead, "Of course he lied about that too...*sigh* I can assure you, unless you are fully electronic and within a foot of the ring, the micro E.M.P. wouldn't even touch you." She crosses her arms and sighs once more, bowing in front of Lala out of respect. "I apologize for all of my brother's misdeeds and growing list of falsehoods, but I am afraid that Lacospo was lying about you being in any physical danger," Adrisin states, still bowing, "Unfortunately my brother is a greedy man, and the love of the money he could access with both of these rings in tandem, meant he did everything in his power to make you stay within his grasp." She looks to Rito, then back at Lala, and smiles as she hands the former both rings. "As these are now yours, Lord Rito, I suggest you choose to make use of them with great haste," she suddenly signs, instead of speaking, much to the confusion of the other guests, "Though I would refrain from putting yours on until she accepts your proposal."

Rito quickly turns away to hide the color dusting his nose, so he chooses to focus on the other object of everyone's eyes in the room. He turned, only to watch as the woman's outward appearance melts away into the shadows before quickly being replaced by someone that had been conveniently absent from the first day Rito had arrived. "I almost didn't think you had it in you at first, before you stood up and faced him," Nemesis states with a wicked smile, "Almost makes it worth all that trouble posing as that slimy toads love interest just to get close to him, in case he did something as stupid as this." Rito crosses his arms and smirks as the smaller girl merely holds her nose up at him.

"I thought you were more into spreading chaos and having fun, why deceive Lacospo like that?" Rito asks, "I mean, I understand spying on him, but going so far as to pose as his girlfriend, just to steal a couple of rings back from him... unless you really cared for mine and Lala's feelings?" Nemesis suddenly freezes and grows a little indignant at Rito's insinuations.

"As if," she haughtily replies, turning to face the red head, "What better way to cause chaos, than to crash the wedding of a century, pose as the slimy toads girl on the side, just to destabilize the foundations of an important marriage, then root for the underdog who is barely king material..." Rito smiles at her attempts to play off her helpfulness, though seeing his smile gives her an idea; at which point Nemesis closes her eyes and smirks before opening them confidently and approaching Rito to whisper in his ear. "While you may not have to have an excuse anymore, take it gently with her," she whispers, much to Rito's growing horror and embarrassment, "She loves it when you take it slow with her, so just make sure that when you dream of marshmallows and ice cream, you savor the taste." With a wink she sauntered off, leaving a blushing Lala and Rito on the altar, as the minister coughed to gain their attention.

"While I believe a wedding is in order, I think perhaps for both parties involved, a decision must be reached between them and them alone," the alien minister states, before turning to King Gid, "While reconvening at a later time may be inopportune, perhaps a rescheduling for later in the day may suffice?" King Gid steps forwards and draws his daughter to the side, whispering a hushed conversation with her, before nodding and turning to face the assembled crowd.

"Very well, I believe that we shall convene for lunch in the main dining hall, and should my Daughter and... Lord Rito make their decision to sanction their engagement and wedding, we will reconvene," the room almost starts to break into a din, when a sharp reprimand from King Gid causes everyone to quiet down, "Should anyone wish to challenge Rito for his title in that time, I suggest you take it up with me... privately." The din silences to the point where one could hear a pin drop, as everyone realizes that the words the Devilukean King are saying essentially conveys that he approves of their marriage, even if it was yet to be officiated. Lala was slack jawed at this, as was quite a number of disgruntled delegates, yet it seemed no one was going to raise any objections, as they all quietly waited in their seats. With that done, Rito took Lala's hand, and the impromptu couple left the room, followed by Peke, Mikan, Celine, and the various others that consisted of Rito and Lala's friends.

* * *

 _Meanwhile_  
 _Hangar Bay_

Momo stands over the wreckage of what was once Lacospo's force field controls. The containment field had been compromised by whatever had sliced the tower in two, looking more and more to be an energy weapon that could potentially threaten others in the castle, a concerning thought that she and Nana shared. Though the two sisters had separated to see whatever it was that had escaped the field was returned, the fact that Momo couldn't repair it was quite the conundrum. This left Nana to entertain the ferocious predator that was roaming the castle gardens, something that had proved easier to do once she unexpectedly called in her own Drasuke. "What could have done this besides Rito's blade?" Momo asked herself. Nana came in to check on her and inform her that the Drasuke was content to remain where she was with her male counterpart to herd her away from others. She also told her younger sister that something had happened at the wedding ceremony, and that their parents wanted them to check on Lala in her room. Deciding to leave her question unanswered, Momo regrettably left the rest of the work to palace guards, as she had an older sister to check up on now.

* * *

 _Lala's Room_

The eldest princess of Deviluke had insisted that Rito and her talk privately, once they approached her room, a request that went off without any complaint and full understanding. So now Rito found himself sitting on a massive bed, easily twice or three times the size of the one Lala had in her room on Earth, as Lala sat on the opposite side, hugging a pillow closely towards her chest. "So..." Rito states slowly, trying to break the ice, "Your wedding's been called off, your ex-fiance slash kidnapper is in the dungeon awaiting extradition, and I suddenly find myself inheriting every thing he owned..." He chuckles a bit at that, though Lala is quiet as she halfheartedly listens, her mind distracted by other matters. "So I guess I own my own space ship now, that's cool..." Rito states, thinking back to the spaceship that sits in the Devilukean space port, "Might be hard to explain to my parents why I've suddenly inherited a fortune in alien currency; what would it even be worth, what is it made up of, and what is even called... would it be yen, quatloos, gold, jewels?" Still Lala is silent, and Rito's attempts don't seem to be doing anything, so he attempts to broach the subject as delicately as possible. "And these rings, man, what was with al the tension back there over some engagement rings, really?" he asks, "I mean, I'd want to get you a proper ring since I thought you'd want one, but the emphasis-"

"Do you really want to marry me?" Lala abruptly asks, breaking off Rito's horrible attempts at getting her to talk, "Do you- really want to be engaged to someone who practically threw a good thing away, just to prove something?" Rito knows from her tone of voice she intends to keep talking, she doesn't really want his answer. "Do you expect me to just up and marry you now, you tried to defend from marrying him, even after everything that's happened?" Lala asks, lifting her head up from her chest, but not looking back at Rito yet, "How I foolishly took the place of my sister just because her life was in danger, even though I knew you would come and rescue me, even though Lacospo could have married me, you still want me?" She turns to Rito with what he expects to be anger, lashing out at him, instead what he finds is a girl with tears flowing freely, his heart breaking at seeing her so miserable.

"Lala I-" he doesn't even finish his sentence, not knowing what to say. He wants to just lift his hand up, bring her into a hug, kiss her and tell her it will all go away, but he knows such trauma will take time. She notices his lapse, and levels her teary gaze with him, before swallowing her pride and taking a leap.

"I lied to you Rito, I lied to everyone, and I can't let you force yourself to marry me, not when you have everyone here, everyone waiting for you at home..." She crosses her arms over her knees, which she had dragged up onto the bed, the flowing material wrinkling as she sat,ruining the dress with creases and crinkles, "What about Mikan, what about Nana and Momo, what about Yui, Saruyama, Risa... what about Haruna?" She looks up from staring at her knees, and at a confused and unsure Rito. "I know you still have feelings for her, I know that's why you were so depressed lately, Rito, I-" she sobs anew, before gathering her words and choking them out, "I-I l-lied R-rito, my Father nev-er sent a let-let-letter, he didn't want you to make a choice..." Rito moves closer to her on her bed, taking off his tuxedo and wrapping it around her, before embracing her in a side hug, as she sobs into him. "H-haruna had left, I-I- I knew Momo had lied, but I hadn't really realized what it would do to you, but- but, then you changed, Rito, and I couldn't stand it anymore when you wouldn't move on," she confesses to the boy she loved, "You had been gaining confidence, preparing yourself, when the rug got pulled from under you, and I couldn't stand watching everyone pity you more and more, I couldn't let you waste your life moping..." Rito feels her mouth dry up, his heart drop into his stomach, and his hands sweat, but he understood that she need this, if only to get better.

"Everyone- everyone deserves happiness, but I saw how Momo drove you deeper into a corner, how she was forcing you into an unwanted harem behind closed doors, so I built you a safe haven, and thought it would help at first, you were happier," Lala states, as she begins to calm her sobbing, "But my time was running out, despite everything I was doing to drop you hints of my feelings, to help you make your own choices, but I saw you were still raw, still hurting from Haruna's disappearance, from the unanswered questions, so I knew I had to do something desperate to catch your attention..." he silently breaks down into more controlled sobs, but the hurt, the pain, the fear is still there in her eyes as she continues talking.

"So I manipulated you Rito, made you, made everyone, think that my papa had sent a letter, because I knew how respected, and how feared, my father was by you," she states, as Rito nervously smiles at Gids mention, "I only intended for you to gain more confidence, actually begin talking to all these girls you had met so you could come to your own decision, but then you got so involved with everything, you started hooking up Saruyama with Yui, then you made Run understand her own feelings, but then the Auction came up, and the Black Pearl changed you..." She sniffles as she presses her head into Rito's shoulder. "I thought I was going to lose you, and then I realized I really cared about being with you, more than I ever had before; it was like I stepped back to let you find yourself, and found that I was growing more and more jealous of your growing confidence,"she states, looking up into Rito's face, "I thought that maybe Momo had swayed you at first, that you may not have chosen me, you were so concerned when she left, but I learned you had tried to break it off with her..." Rito stops her there, shushing her softly with his pointer finger.

"You're right, I was in a funk and needed to move on, we all made mistakes, you and I, Momo, even some of the others," Rito states, looking down at Lala, "Sure, hearing you say that, I may be a little... disappointed with you." Lala's face, even her tail, droops at that, but then Rito keeps on talking. "But you know what Lala, you were also right, I did need more confidence, in myself and in my own choices; I don't have my dad around me as much as I wish he was, to ask him all these questions a normal son and father would, and I don't have my mom with me either," Rito states, a growing look of nostalgia on his face, "Maybe when Mikan and I were younger, we always had them with us it seems like now, but growing up we both taught ourselves how to be the grown-up, even though we still had our parents, they were never really there, you know?" He looks down and smiles at her, while she smiled sympathetically in return.

"Of course you know, what with your father being busy as a King, and your mother working busily as a diplomat, you may have had Zastin and a bunch of servants, but never a real parent when it came down to it," Rito states, as Lala begins to smile, think of when she was younger and causing a bunch of chaos for Zastin, usually in an attempt to get her argumentative sisters together, "Love is just a notion, it's something strange, when we don't have something stable to base it off of; I never got to know what girls were like until it was too late, until my own clumsiness, my own personal curse, caused me to become a social outcast..." Lala thinks back to the time when Rito had told Saruyama of how he had fallen in love with Haruna, even though she had known it was bad to snoop. "So I may have gone a little overboard when a girl, one I didn't really even know, came to my defense... it was special, someone I could focus on to ease my social isolation, when my academic life was still going strong," he sighs, as he turns to Lala and smiles, "Then I met you, and a whole bunch of craziness ensued, but you opened up a whole new world to me, and brought me out of my self-built shell, even when at times it didn't seem favorable to me, I wouldn't trade these memories with you for the world; and I didn't, even when you tried to take them last time we were engaged!" Lala laughed at the memory of when she came into school the next day, nervously trying to fit back in expecting no one to remember, and then life going on like normal when it was revealed her invention had failed spectacularly. Her life had changed in many ways after that, but memories like that were something she cherished.

That was when Rito steps off of the bed and onto the floor, turning to stand in front of Lala. "Well, enough of that pity party for two," Rito states, as he grabs Lala by the hand and pulls her up and off of the bed, before she trips into his arms. She knocks into him just enough that Rito loses his balance, and she tumbles onto the floor with him, leaving him breathless. Once the dizzying fall is over, they both break out into laughter at the ridiculousness of all of this, the events of the past half hour behind them. "So," Rito states, holding her close despite being nervous and awkward, "What I'm trying to say is..." He pulls out the two rings from his pocket and holds it up over both of them, shifting to his side so he is laying on the floor parallel to an entangled Lala in her wedding dress. "Despite what you think, despite everything my head is telling me saying that I'm rushing headlong into something I don't fully comprehend, I know my heart belongs to you, Lala," Rito states, smiling at her as she blushes, "I don't know if you really want to get married right away, and we don't have to rush into it with everything that's gone on these past few weeks; I want to be engaged to you, Lala, if you'll have me?" A contemplative look crosses her face once she realizes what he's asking, and she pushes herself up from the floor to sit.

"Alright, yes Rito, yes I will," Lala announces as she takes a ring from his hand, causing the blood to rush to his head in excitement, "But..." That word causes his mood to plummet, as he nervously awaits her end to that sentence. "I want to marry you, and you're right that we don't have to rush into it today, but I don't want our marriage to begin based on a lie I spun," Lala states promptly, a look of determination growing on her face, to the surprise and confusion of Rito, "I need to tell the other girls about the letter, about my lies, and about the future I saw; although it might take awhile to set everyone and everything straight, I can't not let them know the truth..." Rito smiles brightly at Lala, drawing her into a hug to cheer her up in her own way.

"Your right, and so very brave to do that," Rito states as he speaks in her ear, "I think they'll understand, you had done what you thought was best, but right now there's yet another matter we need to discuss.." Lala stands there puzzled as Rito steps back and then gets down on one knee. "To make it a proper earth engagement, we do this to those we truly love and wish to spend our lives with, and although I'd rather get you a proper engagement ring from my home planet, I hope this will do," He once again pulls out the very same ring Lala had been wearing not too long ago, and holds it up to offer it to her, "Lala Satalin Deviluke, will you marry me?" She laughs as she grabs the ring from him, dragging him back up and giving him a passionate kiss.

"I already said yes, dummy," as she pulls away and dreamily gazes into Rito's eyes, "How do you think we tell the others I've excepted your proposal?" Rito chuckles as he places her ring on her ring finger, the metal band resizing to fit, turning once more a pitch black, and the clear, set stone turns a bright pink once more. He then thumbs towards the door, much to the confusion of Lala, until she pouts and sees what he was pointing at. While the door hadn't exactly been locked when it was shut, she hadn't expected to see the bell-like flower that snaked under the doorway and bloomed in the semi-gloom of her temporary room. Now that she listened, she could here the soft, tinny, echoing voices from the no doubt duplicate flower on the other side. Recognizing the flower as a rare variety of the 'Communication Carnation', the flowers hollow stems and pistols had no doubt reverberated their words to the people on the other side of the door listening in. She walks over to the door and opens it up, as Nana, Momo, Mikan, and Celine fall to the floor in a heap.

"I think a couple of spies already heard us, so shall we tell them we're officially engaged?" Rito asks, raising an eyebrow at Lala, who nods, "Well then, guess I should put this one on!" He is entranced as the silver ring suddenly darkens back to the mute black, and the clear white diamonds gain color and clarity, turning pink for Lala. Lala stands next to him with her own hand outstretched towards his, as both of their single, clear diamonds begin to transform from transparency, towards a flaming, hot orange that offsets her dazzling, pretty pink. "Once you three get back up, I suggest you find and round up the gaggle of other girls for a chat, while how about I take Celine to see King Gid and Queen Sephie to tell them the good news!" he states as he picks up Celine with practiced ease, placing the giggling girl on his shoulders, "Hang on!" He steps over the girls and heads off towards the last known location of the King and Queen. Lala helps Mikan up, while Nana and Momo brush the dust off from their clothing. Nana looks like she wants to say something, as does the questioning glance of Mikan, though it was Momo who spoke first.

"So you knew?" she stated critically, ignoring the joyful attitude surrounding this occasion, "You knew I was planning on making Rito into a harem king, and you never said anything to me?" She crosses her arms, and Nana begins to wonder if she should stop her younger sister before she said anything she'd regret. Mikan put an arm on her shoulder, causing Nana to look back at the younger girl in surprise, as if she knew the two sisters needed to fix this here and now. "So the mighty, all-knowing Lala strikes again, manipulating others for her own personal gain; and this time you still get the guy?" she states, uncrossing her arms and putting her hands to her head, "You knew and you didn't pull me aside to tell me Rito was off limits, or even attempt to save me from embarrassing myself in front of your marriage candidate, even though you knew I liked him?" Momo turns away and walks to the door.

"I didn't..." Lala goes to say more, but a harsh glare from Momo cases any apology to die on her lips.

"What kind of older sister manipulates her forced-fiance into breaking up with another love interest, just to spare her the trouble of doing it herself?" Momo states, "I'm happy for you sis, congratulations, you got the guy..." She swiftly walks out of the room and nearly bumps into another person who was heading their way. "I'm sorry..." she begins to say, until her mood turns sour, "Oh, it's just you..." She walks away once more, without a word, leaving the person flabbergasted until he joins the others in Lala's room.

"What's her problem?" Nakajima asks, as he scratches his head in confusion while giving one last glance back, "Did she take the news that badly?" He turns to Lala with a smile and bows, noticing he had been ignoring everyone else. "Congratulations, Lala-hime, I'm happy you and Rito have made up, despite everything that's been going on lately," he states, "I bumped into Rito and heard the good news, so I thought I'd give my regards in person to you as well, and it seems like we've got someone else unhappy..." He turns and waves goodbye the others, as he leaves the room. "Maybe I'll go see if I can help cheer her up," Nakajima states, "I know how hard it is to lose a big sis to someone else..." With that Lala sadly smiles and turns to Mikan and Nana.

"I hope Nakajima can help her, and I hope you all can forgive me eventually as well, but before we go any further, can you help me find out where all the others are, so I can explain this all in one go?" Lala asks with a concerned smile, "Then it makes it so much easier to answer all your questions then, too..." Nana smiles while Mikan nods absentmindedly, concern over Momo and Nakajima showing as she watches him catch up to her, until they turn a corner.

 _Meanwhile_

Silver hair falling to his shoulder blades in length, he draws it up into a pony tail and then readies himself. Raising his blade, he lowers it towards his opponent and smiles. "I'll ask you again, where is Rito?" he states, "I know he is here, I can see that everyone else is gathered in the dining hall, but you're out here waiting for something, or rather, someone?" His opponent merely cracks his knuckles, reading himself after getting hit by the intruders sneak attack and his interrogation.

"Kid, I don't know what's gone and caused you to do this, so I'll forgive you this once for all the hard work you've done," he states, cracking his neck, swirling his tail in anticipation, "Maybe the stress has finally gotten to you too, maybe you've been body snatched by that sword I see in your hand, but hell if I tell you what you want to know, when you are begging me to kick you into next week." King Gid wipes the blood from the corner of his mouth, then discards his jacket in favor of gaining mobility. He motions for his attacker to come at him, and soon he obliges, swinging his sword in a skillful arc. The battle between two powerhouses is on.

 **A/N: Oooooh, things seem to be heating up in many places... Maybe things aren't all going to be ideal going forward. Who knows though, right? Heh heh heh...**


	41. Till Death do Us part

**A/N: I probably left you with some questions, ehh? Some self explanatory if you've been paying attention and guessing who our mysterious figure was? Ah, but now I get to tell you the story's just now starting to wind down and there's still more twists and turns to come!**

 **For now though let's return to the story, and as always I do not own To Love Ru!**

 _With Momo and Nakajima_

Nakajima is huffing as he just manages to catch up with a simmering Momo, who's making her way quickly the opposite direction. "Wait, Momo, what's going on?" Nakajima asks as he puts a hand on her shoulder to slow her down, "I don't get why you aren't happy for Rito and Lala-" He suddenly stops as Momo turns around to face him, looking up into his eyes. She actually takes a moment to look at her own reflection in his eyes, the anger and frustration on her face in her reflection. She pauses to collect herself before addressing Nakajima.

"I don't know why you're bothering trying to talk to me Nakajima, it isn't like you really care about me either, you've just gotten buddy buddy with Rito ever since you left," Momo states, huffing as she crosses her arms in annoyance at the other teen, "You don't even know- you wouldn't understand the way I feel right now, after I found out how I must have made a laughingstock out of myself in front of Rito and my sister." She turns away from Nakajima and kicks her foot forward, her tail curling in front of her out of reflex as she pouts. "I- I don't know why I'm going to tell you this, maybe because I know it doesn't really matter much, but I- I had a cr-cru- a crush on Rito," she finally spits out, as she bites her thumb and closes her eyes in regret, as the words leave her mouth, "I thought I could mold him into the perfect boyfriend- one that I secretly wanted, it seems." She puts her hands down, shoulders sagging in defeat. "I seemed to always be at odds with my sister; she wanted to let him grow by himself, I wanted to force him to bloom before he was ready," Momo states, "My sister knew I was smitten, even though she didn't know I confessed, and she just stood by and watched as I practically threw myself at him; threw him into scenarios I created..." Nakajima opens his mouth, gritting his teeth as he listens to her speak about Rito.

"Yeah, well, listening to you whining like this Momo, I can easily understand why she didn't confront you!" Nakajima barks out in an unusual fit of anger, "Maybe she didn't want to hurt your feelings, maybe she didn't know how to approach you as the older sister, maybe she actually believed that there was some GOOD in what you were doing!" Momo steps back, surprise on her face as Nakajima continues, simmering down as he removes his glasses to massage the bridge of his nose. "Maybe she assumed you would get the hint from Rito himself, especially from what I saw in the VMC, Rito never seemed to get two words out of his mouth around you, before you yanked him around," he shrugs his shoulders as he speaks, "Yeah, maybe it didn't help I and the others ganged up on him when we saw you around him, but growing up in Sainan, there isn't a kid in our school system that hasn't heard of the 'Perverted Klutz', or how he messed up the gardens in Junior High." He crosses his arms, as Momo suddenly grows angry at his accusations about Rito.

"Yeah, well Rito isn't like that, and stupid rumors from long ago don't interest me, Nakajima," she says, matter-of-factually, crossing her arms and huffing in annoyance, "You're all just childish because you can't appreciate what you'll never understand, since your species is such prudes regarding matters of the heart, and the body." He actually laughs at that, which catches her off guard.

"You're calling us prudes?" Nakajima states, crossing his own arms, "From what I learned while talking to Kuro and Zastin, we may be a bit backwards technologically, but a lot of people are like us when it comes to matters of the heart." He adjusts his glasses and smiles at Momo. "For instance, despite all your moping and groaning, your not angry at Lala, your misdirecting your jealousy towards Rito onto her," Momo widens her eyes, and sputters at that unbelievable comment, but he keeps on talking, "You know, it isn't really comparable, but I have an older cousin who practically lived with us her last year of school, just to marry some guy who lived in our old neighborhood." Momo raises an eyebrow at his story, but he ignores that. "She was like, my second cousin, or something, I was, like, six or so at the time, and I had the biggest crush on her because she was the only one of all the older kids who played with me when the family got together," Nakajima states, frowning as he relates the experience, "I didn't want her to go and leave us, leave me, so every time she brought her fiance over, I did everything in my power to make his life miserable, until one day he did something unexpected." He pulls out his wallet and grabs something from inside it that was tucked in a corner.

"He decided to take me out with her to some carnival, or festival that was going on, and he treated me to cotton candy, even helped me scoop a goldfish, when he took me aside while my cousin went to use the restroom,"Nakajima states, smiling, "He said,'Kid, you're the only one who doesn't like me right now, but I get it, you don't want her to leave, but, I gotta ask ya somethin'" Nakajima wipes a tear from his eye, as he smile sat the happy memory. "He kneeled down and pulled out this box from his back pocket, and handed it to me, and he told me exactly what he wanted me to do with it," Nakajima states, "'When you think I'm worthy of her, you give me this box, so don't lose it, and I'll know I'll have your blessing to marry her' is what he told me." He hands the strip of photo over to Momo, who takes it cautiously and begins to look it over. "He gave me the ring he wanted to surprise her with, because he knew I didn't like him, yet he brought me along anyway to show me he wasn't a bad guy, and then while we were taking photos," Nakajima states, as Momo watches the result play out in the four frames, "She came back, I saw a photo booth and knew I wanted a picture to remember the day, and gave him the ring right before the first flash of light." Momo looks at the pictures and smiles, seeing a tiny Nakajima without his glasses handing a man a box, while his cousin was unaware and making a silly face. She saw the next frame show her surprise at the man holding the box, while the next one showed him showing the ring in the box as he kneeled in the cramped photo booth. She also noticed that while Nakajima had given him the box, he didn;t exactly seem happy in the pictures.

"You didn't seem to share their excitement, so why give him the ring?" Momo softly asks, "I wouldn't at that age..." Nakajima nods, before Momo hands himt he photos back, and he gingerly replaces the faded strip back into his wallet.

"I realized that despite my jealousy, her mind was going to be made up, no matter what I thought, she was a big girl and knew what she was doing," Nakajima states, crossing his arms and shaking his head, "I was six, so forgive me if I didn't quite understand or like all the kissing I saw that day, but I realized I couldn't keep her from her happiness, just because I wanted her to be mine..." Momo softly closes her eyes, as she finally gets the point he is making. "Why don't you go find her, apologize to her, because we both know she didn't mean for this to happen," Nakajima states, spreading out his arms wide at his surroundings, earning a small chuckle from Momo in return, "So be the mature woman you and I know you are, don't hold her back just because you want to keep her as 'your big sister'; we both know after today he's already won her over again..." Momo smiles, wiping a tear from her eye, much more calmer and relieved than she thought she should be, but strangely happy.

"You matured Nakajima, maybe you aren't as stupid as you look," she states playfully, punching him softly in his shoulder, "And I'll forgive the insult that you think I wasn't acting mature." He chuckles, but he follows her as they head back towards the direction of Lala's room. Suddenly both here a scream coming from down the hallway. Nakajima turns to Momo, and she looks back at him. "Go see what's going on, I'll go check on Lala and see if Rito's involved," Momo commands, before she hands him her Dedial, "If we aren't there in time, if the guards need help, you know what to do!" Nakajima nods and runs off towards the source of the scream, Momo hurriedly turns around and heads back to find her sister's room once more.

 _Meanwhile_

As blade clashed with fist and tail, Gid came to blows again and again, parrying his opponent. He didn't know why his most loyal advisor and general was attacking him, but he knew it had something to do with the sword. It was also why, Gid believed, that the sword was the reason Zastin was matching him blow for blow, as even though Zastin was the second strongest on the planet, his skills and power were still under Gid's own years of honing. While he couldn't keep this up forever, he knew that he was wearing down, deflecting Zastin's powerful swings was of utmost importance to him, keeping any hit from connecting. Then he slipped up, when Zastin feinted, turning his blade low and striking him in the knee and causing Gid to regretfully fall. He looked up to see the sword leveled to his face, just as Lala, Rito, and others reappeared to speak to him. A maid screams in the distance, but all Gid can see is the hate coming off his younger advisor's eyes. The boy he had watched grow up in his court from a squire, this was not him, but an icy, meticulous, ruthlessness wearing his skin. The eyes alone were enough to judge this by, as his eyes were fully an empty gray, filled now with hate, rather than the blue eyes that occasionally shone gray in certain lighting.

"Papa!" Lala calls out, looking at the scene playing out before her, her anger flaring at Zastin, "What are you doing Zastin, you're committing treason!" She is surprised as the smile travels up his face, turning to smile at Lala.

"But Princess, I'm only doing what your father asked, he said anyone who wanted to approach Rito must go through him," he says, as if stating a simple fact while holding her father at sword point, "You see, unlike Lacospo, I have the ability to fight Rito, and choose to do so." He removes his sword from Gid's neck and replaces it in his scabbard. He bows and pulls out a rose from somewhere, to offer it to Lala. "While I apologize that this must happen on your wedding day, or rather your engagement, but it is a necessary evil I assure you," Zastin states pulling up from the bow and tossing the white rose at her feet, "I don't care about you marrying Rito, oh no, my reasons actually extend personally to the matter of succession, or rather, inheritance of the crown and the empire..." He sneers at Rito as he points a finger at him. "I challenge you Rito, a duel to decide who will rule Deviluke and inherit Gid's crown, the hand of the fair Lala belongs to you at no cost, because I will become King and restore the Diskenth line to the throne," he states, and Gid's eyes suddenly show the barest of hint of surprise, that catches both Lala's and Rito's attention, "Because, as you are likely unaware, millennia ago the last son of the house of Diskenth was exercised from this place and cast out into exile; I have come here to permanently end the vendetta between my ancestor and yours, Gid-sama, Lala-hime, and claim the throne from your chosen favorite."

Gid stands up shakily from his position on the floor, and stares in contempt at Zastin. "I do not know why or where you have dredged up such a terrible moment from our history," Gid states, "But I can assure you that the Diskenth line was exercised from history for a reason, his line cut off and removed from the royal courts, long ago." He walks over to stand in front of Lala and Rito. "You are mistaken Zastin to think by just challenging Rito for the right of the throne, that you will get it by defeating him," Gid states, "You know as well as I that only the oldest heir to the throne stands to gain it, their can be no such challenge permitted, no exceptions." At that Zastin smirked.

"While that is true of male heirs, when the matter of succession falls to a woman, as stated in the ancient bylaws, the eldest male who holds even the tiniest amount of royal blood, may challenge the daughter's champion for right of succession," he draws a thin line over his wrist, and a few small flecks of blood drop to the ground in the throne room, "You'll find that even though the royal line of Diskenth has been removed from the history books, Zastin's claim to the throne is still valid." As they wonder what he means by that, the sudden pulsating light that begins to illuminate the ground under their feet, travel up the walls, and create a vast, complex set of visible runes around the room, answers that question for them. Suddenly the throne doors slam close, cutting off the access to the hallways, and leaving Nana, Lala, Rito, Gid, Sephie, Darkness, Kuro, Mikan and Celine alone in the room with Zastin. "Now, as the challenge has been meted out, and the runes discouraging interference set, I believe you should select your champion, Lala-hime," Zastin states with a crazed smile on his face, "I would hate to pick for you from among all your favored friends..." He eyes Kuro, Darkness, and Rito in turn, before turning to Lala.

"You are crazy if you think I'll send in someone to fight for me, Zastin, or whoever you are!" she yells angrily at the man, "The Zastin I know would have never let it come to this!" He chuckles at that, before brushing his hand through his hair and smiling crazily through the gap between his thumb and forefinger.

"Well, you are right Princess, since Zastin isn't really in control right now, nor has he been since your friends went and fixed the Ninth Blade for me!" he smiles as he turns to Rito, "You already know, Rito, who I am, don't you; Adam more than likely told you who I was after all..." He then turns to address the others. "You see, my name isn't Zastin, but rather Creed Diskenth, the original wielder of the improperly forged Ninth Blade, and base personality of the monster you would call Bladix!" At that the others feel their blood turn cold, Lala feels her heart skip a beat, as she remembers exactly what happened when she had visited the future that time. The one who had pretended to be 'Adam' but was really something, someone else; a mad King who ruined a universe for his own selfish gain, destroying her family in the future after Rito lost control of his powers. A darkness born from hellish hate and the death of someone that had been proven to be her own family.

"That's right, I am the exiled son of Deviluke, a King in my own time, but your history books wouldn't say that, would they Gid?" Creed calls out towards the wounded King, "History is written by the victors after all, no matter who is right or wrong, not the losers." He bitterly frowned as he delved into his story. "Once, long ago, Deviluke was fractured into kingdoms after the death of a great King who had but one heir, an infant son yet weaned off of his mother's bosom," Creed states, "As the world fell into disorder and chaos, civil war as rights of succession and rules came to blows between men, then armies, then whole cities..." He crossed his arms and continued. "I was the closest to the crown, the Diskenth being cousins after all with your own family back then Gid, though time has thinned that connection now, but as a young man I knew while the child was alive, there would be no rest from war until a hero arose, the young prince was crowned king; so I sent him away to loyalists in the Northern provinces." He pulls out his sword and strikes it into the stone, a clang echoing through the throne room as metal strikes rock. "I did seize power, by any means necessary at the time, and perhaps my methods were more harmful or strict than helpful and kind, but during my rule all attention was turned to me, and me alone, as I cut swaths into those who sought their own power," he grips his handle tightly, "Those who sought to use the shadows to hide their ambitions, their greed for power, were exposed or executed by my own hand, until the day the young Prince was old enough to begin to gather power in the few loyal cities to the north." Rito's eyes open in astonishment as he comes to realize just what Creed was getting to.

"So you vilified yourself to become a martyr, a person for the peoples sorrows and problems," he states, as Gid and Lala both look at Rito in astonishment as he speaks, "So when the King gained the power he needed to take back his father's possessions, unify your people from the civil war they had faced, you were cast out, exiled to the stars for your crimes; but how?" Rito steps forward with a puzzled look and a raised hand. "If your people were still in the equivalent of Earth's dark age, when Kings ruled, how is it your people managed to become star faring in such a short time, while under such despair?" he asks, "Wouldn't you be more focused on yourselves, than the skies above?" Creed smirks at Rito, recognizing that he was askign the right questions.

"You would wonder correctly, how it was exactly that my people grew to join the stars; the answer being that the stars had came to us long ago, aliens who walked among us as gods enslaved us while were too young and stupid to question it, then one day it seems they simply left us to be," Creed answers, "One day, during my exile, I sought to follow the myths and stories to see if gods had truly walked among us, and I found the answers to be more disturbing than the myths and legends of the Pale People that legend spoke of." He kneels down on the floor to sit as the others tense. "Tales spoke of the Pale People as beings like us, though they could do extraordinary things such as heal the sick, even bless those like them with a power we eventually came to know as Tao," he laughed as he spoke, and turned towards Gid, "It is ironic, really, to learn that what we thought was natural to our people, coveted by our people, was simply a gift left to us to utilize to the full, to spread and to share it with our world." He sneers as he looks towards Gid. "Instead, the selfish and the power hungry kept it between themselves, and eventually what we knew as the 'Royal' bloodline, was in fact the last of the genetically enhanced, those gifted with, but unable to use, the power of the Tao." Gid looks at Creed, gripping his hands together and growling. "Yes, Gid, that is the source of your unimaginable power, the power to destroy planets and wipe out your enemies and suffering only the curse of regressing in age; the result of Tao energy enhancing our peoples natural abilities," Creed states, "And we had abused it for so long, I realized that to undo the travesty we had created, I had to become the hero, a real Hero this time, and seek out our gods and the weapons they left behind." At that Lala looked to the sword, as did Rito, who also observed his own sword in its scabbard.

"The swords, you thought the Charmian's were your gods, just because of the weapons Chronos had created?" Lala states exacerbated, as tears fell down her cheeks, "You killed my ancestor's brother, just because he had an ability, the skill to create these weapons and blades and guns?" She falls to her knees, not caring about her dress anymore, nor the wedding that could have happened. "You became a monster just because you wanted a stupid sword?" she says disbelievingly, much to the alarm of Gid and the others, save Rito who had seen the events play out before, "It's no wonder they called you a foolish soldier, a worthless man, its no wonder they called you a villain; because you are one!" The words actually gave Creed pause, but the malicious smile returned shortly.

"Yeah, I guess I did... heh... heh... ha.." Creed states, as he removes the sword from the stone, and stares into the reflective black material, "Man, when you put it like that, I guess I did become a villain..." He looks up and meets Rito's eyes, and in that instant Rito realizes exactly what he is planning. Rito doesn't hesitate, and he ignores the cries and pleas of his Sister and Lala as he steps forward, drawing his sword.

"I can't let you become King now, you know that?" Rito states, leveling his sword at Zastin/Creed, "I'm sorry, if you can hear Zastin, but Creed needs to be stopped, here and now, since he's become a monster." Creed freezes, half his smile drooping while the rest remains, and an eye flickers between lifeless gray and bold blue. Rito merely nods as Creed assumes full control of his body once more. "I accept your challenge as Lala's champion, no as Deviluke's champion," Rito states, flaring up his body with dark matter, leaving a visibly light-bending aura, "When you yield, you will release Zastin from your grasp, exorcising whatever anger, pain, and rage fuels you; do you accept these terms?" Creed merely smiles wider, to the point of almost splitting skin.

"If you win Rito, if, so when I win, you forfeit your life to feed my blade with your empowered blood," Creed states, as he strikes his blade on the floor, and both he and Rito are surrounded by a circle of energy, "When you leave this ring, or I kill you first, then Lala can cry her heart out and step aside when my new reign begins!" Raising his own blade and leveling it with Rito's, he steps forward and crosses blades. "Let us duel!" he orders, and in the following flare of darkness and sparks of light, the two are off matching each other blow for blow.

 _Outside the Room_

Momo, Nakajima, Nemesis, Mea, even Saki, Rin, and Aya are standing near by, as a host of guards bring in siege equipment to break down the door. "Again, again!" Momo commands, "Your current and future King's and Queen's lay beyond that door, as does the remainder of the royal family and other important guests; we must break through whatever barrier is disrupting our entrance!" The others step to the side, as the group of men hoist their battering ram and hit the door once more, causing it to crack and splinter. At that they stop and step aside, as Nemesis walks up to the door and attempts to phase through the shadows beyond the door. After a scream, she pulls back and coalesces once more into a physical body.

"Damn it, whatever is beyond that door, its utilizing the minimalist amount of Tao energy to keep us out," Nemesis states, as she brushes herself off as Nakajima helps her to stand, "Tell your men to stop, Momo, trying to get past Tao enhanced barriers is like crushing a diamond with your bare hand, while lacking your Deviluke physic." Momo waves the guards off, and they return from whence they came.

"So there is no chance of getting in there?" Momo asks, as Nemesis shakes her head, "Then let us pray that whatever is going on beyond that door doesn't last much longer, or else we may have to blow up the wall around the doors..." Nakajima doesn't know if she is kidding or not, nor does Saki, or the others.

"I thought I saw Zastin before the doors closed, and he had the King on the floor at sword point!" she states hysterically, crying into Aya's shoulder, "If I hadn't have screamed, would we have been able to stop him?" Aya merely consoles her, as does Rin. "Zastin-sama, what are you doing?" she cries while staring towards the door, "Why would you risk your life to do something so foolish my love!"

 **OoOoOoO**

' _He's attempting to off balance you,_ ' Adam states from within Rito's mind, ' _Go for a low swing, make him block, then through your weight into your left shoulder to try and force him back._ ' While Rito was listening to Adam's suggestions, the very fact that the man in front of him was a trained soldier with practice on the field, made it very hard to match him at his current level. ' _Block_!' Adam cries out, as Rito almost misses getting nicked by the blade, huffing as he steps back and wipes sweat from his forehead, while the two men circle each other, ' _Zastin is the solider Rito, Creed is just a phantom wearing his skin, he lacks the honed focus and dedication Zastin bled to achieve._ ' Rito rolls his shoulders as he prepares to block Creed's downward slice, looking back to see that had he not deflected it, he could have been very well pushed over the edge. ' _Creed is an echo, a parasite left over from the Bladix entity, he isn't Creed anymore than he is Zastin, even though he has memories,_ ' Adam states, smugness in his voice, as Rito parries, ' _You've defeated Bladix by sheer willpower alone, Zastin is controlled the same was as Rin was that day, you already had the will, now you have the power and the skill to beat him outside of the mindscape._ ' Rito gets a rush of memories, as the events play out in his head, of Rin, Bladix, and every crazy thing that has gone on this past year alone. He had been near death more than once, he saved the world with his friendship's and connections, he met, confessed to, and moved on from the girl of his childhood dreams, to find the woman of his dreams having been standing next to him all the while.

With a roar of renewed energy, he swings and finds his blade clashing with Creed's. "Do you think that you can win?" Creed yells, lunging forward to swipe, "You may have the muscle memory that monster passed on to you, but I posses the skills and knowledge of two battle-hardened men to put them into practice!" He pivots and retreats a step, letting Rito take the chance to lunge and swing, before he deflects the blade and manages to kick Rito in the shin. While he doesn't fall, the dirty move hurts,and causes him to return to the defensive. "I'm glad you are learning your place, Rito, you don't have the spine to stand up to your enemies, so remember that while you can," Creed states, not letting up as Rito continue's to block, "It's a mercy, really for me to do this now!" Creed has managed to push Rito backwards, to the edge, and he prepares to end it. "I fare thee well, Rito Yuuki," Creed states, raising his blade to rush him, "You wouldn't have had the brains to survive." As he lunges for the last time intent on spilling blood, it is Rito's intention to block him, so he pivots his foot to do so. In an act of sheer coincidence, Rito falters as he moves with his injured foot, causing him to fall to the ground as he barely blocks Creed's downward hack. Creed is shocked as he tumbles forward, sword bouncing off Rito's at the last glance, and tripping over Rito's sprawled form and out of the ring.

The lights that had been illuminating the throne room suddenly dim, as the doors crash open with a mass of sprawling vines and flowers that tear the doors from their hinges. The others look back as Momo storms in with palace guards following her, among them Nakajima, Saki, and the rest swiftly file in. Lala's eyes are filled with joy as she begins to walk towards Rito, until her father and Nana hold her back. She's confused until she watches Rito stagger up and face Creed with his own blade raised. "Now, you've lost, so let Zastin go!" Rito commands, as he winces in pain setting his injured foot down, "Come on Creed, as a man of your honor, shouldn't you be letting go of whatever petty feud it is that's kept you going after Bladix's death." At that the downed form of Creed begins to laugh, as he slowly gets back up onto his feet, leaving his sword on the floor.

"You think this is about a sword, Rito, about honor?" Creed states, turning to look Rito in the eyes, "I've been reborn in a vessel fit to met out my retribution on Deviluke, I am not just some hateful sword, lusting after blood; I have goals, ideals to put into work, and if you think you'll stop me now..." He walks forward with his sword hand swinging freely and held up by his free hand. "I'm Creed, now and forever, and I'll die restoring Deviluke's purity, then let you pollute the line further with that witches blood!" he yells, staring with full hatred directed towards Lala and Rito, "Your people refused to help me back then, so I took what was rightfully mine, to see my family line drawn down so low; it sickens me to see what putrid, hellish offspring has resulted from that toxic mixing!" The glint in his gray eyes are full of crazed wildness, determined anger, and hatred so strong it chills Rito to the bone. "If I can't stop you from being King..." Creed states, turning his attention to Rito, "Then you'll have to kill me first!" Rushing towards Rito, brandishing a dagger form his armor, Rito grabs Zastin's unbroken hand and forces him to relinquish his grip on the weapon. Rito had forgotten to use his sword to keep him at arms length, instead using his free hand to try and do the same. With one last, wicked smile, Creed breaks out into a chilling laugh as Rito's eyes arch in surprise. When the first drops of blood hit the floor, the whole room is plunged into silence, while Creed brandishes his tail in the open air, freshly flecked with blood from having plunged into Rito's chest.

"Rito?" Lala cries out, as she struggles against her family, " _ **RITO, NOOOO**_!" She breaks free, the contents tucked into her dress falling out as she tumbles to the floor in despair. With a clink on stone on stone, the silken package rolls free and out onto the cold floor. "RITO!" Lala cries out, as she reaches out for him, "Rito, no!" The princess watches as he slumps to a kneeling position, as blood starts to pool beneath his legs and feet. Forgotten, the glistening white orb sits on the floor ignored, taking in everything around it as the actions of the world are reflected across its surface. The opalescent pearl shines brightly as the light refracts in rainbows the detailed fall of Rito Yuuki, until the red pool spreads and stains the room crimson. "Rito!" Lala chokes out in one last sob, "Forgive me!" Blood red, the reflection of Lala's tear stained face is the last thing the pearl shows, as a whitened cord reaching from the hand on her finger is shown to be attached to the connecting end on Rito's ring finger. While going unobserved to the world around it, busy with their newfound grief, the cord suddenly multiplies and spreads outwards like a web, starting to shine as it turns everything white.

 **A/N: WOW...**


	42. A New Weave

**_So, a new tragedy begins here. With the death of one protagonist, the doorway to a million more have been opened, all for your enjoyment. Yes, we could just show you what happens next, describe in gruesome detail the tragic death of Rito Yuuki and the grieving fiancee he left behind... But what fun would that be to just dive right in to such fresh emotions?_**

 ** _Why not the time Maron became a human boy and fell in love, or how Saruyama ended up getting shot off into space by his best-friend and discovered the secret invasion of Mars. Yes, those would be more interesting, fresh starts for the direction of this story, but... Well, I love the classics, so why not do Alternate Universes!_**

 ** _Hmmm?_**

 ** _What, you think this is just some sort of stalling tactic until the next chapter is written? How dare you good sirs/madams! I'll have you know that I just happen to have gained a fondness for the character known as Rito Yuuki, so why not explore other ways his life could have turned out. After all This Isn't a Harem Story, but that doesn't mean we can't explore different choices he could have made. Very well, let's get going onto the first chapter of this little interlude..._**

 _[Two Years Ago]_

The last thing he remembered were those piercing, soulless voids staring into his own in the darkness and lamplight of the street. She was a demon, some kind of vampire or succubus, come to steal his life away as he stumbled his way home in the dark. Or at least, he assumed he had been heading home, since everything gets fuzzy the further back he tries to look into his memories before that day. But he remembered her clearly enough...

The park was dark, he had stumbled out from the trees, falling head first down the hill and coming to a rough and bumpy stop at the base and mere inches from the concrete walkway that ran through the middle of the park. Picking himself up, bloodied and scratched, limping and confused, he dragged himself to the nearest source of light and comfort. It ended up being a park bench underneath the street post, something that allowed him to gather his jumbled thoughts and bring him some sort of relief to be out of the dark. He checked himself over, finding tears through his gray running suit, where branches had torn and cut him up, and sweat was soaked into his underarms, making the white undershirt he wore extremely uncomfortable. The boy had tried to remember why he was running, why he was so out of breath if the last thing he remembered was exiting the forest, and what the point of jogging was at the late hour of the chilly night.

Suddenly he heard the rustling of wings, and expecting to see some form of bat, or even an owl, he was surprised to see the girl appear from the shadows at the edge of the light. She didn't seem to view him with contempt or hostility like he was expecting, much to his confusion, instead she seemed to regard him with a neutral gaze. He could barely see the glint of her eyes in the light, yet it seemed to increase his pulse as he looked her over on instinct. She had the most voluptuous pair of breasts, unusually large for someone who he guessed to be in middle school, though her assets were not the most unusual thing he had observed about her. No, the pink hair, the black-red, spade tipped tail, the large wings he saw protruding from her back, and the fact that she was floating just off the ground like some kind of apparition, was what made him nearly have a heart attack. The cold, icy terror gripping his heart as she stared at him with her cool, violet eyes, black pinpricks against purple as she stepped into the light. She looked like something unholy, as she descended slowly to the ground and touched down, her wings detracting and dissapearing like magic before his very eyes. It was then that she spoke those seven hated words that repeated in his head forevermore: 'Rito Yuuki, come with me to Paradise!'

 _[Present]_

Rito woke up with fear in his eyes, as he felt a heavy weight on his chest, constricting his breathing and sending him into a fresh round of panic. He looked up from the soft straw pillow he rested his head on, to see that the suffocating weight was someone he had become all to familiar with over the past two years. Sighing, he relaxes and lets his tense muscles loosen, as the short stint of panic and fear caused by that horrifying first meeting was brought up once again by his nightmares. Fortunately for him these were becoming more and more rare as time went on, and knowing that the figure in his bed usually only snuck into his room when he was having a terrible dream, Rito surmised it must have been one loud enough for her to awaken in the middle of the night. Suddenly violet eyes were sleepily opened, and again intensely focused on his toned, shirtless form.

"Good morning," Momo Belia Deviluke yawned sleepily, as she stretched out against him in his bed, allowing him to feel the contact of skin against skin beneath the covers, "Have a bad dream again?" Despite literal years of having the girl practically awaken in his bed underdressed, or occasionally stripped completely of her clothing, the fact of this particular skin-to-skin contact still sent jolts of embarrassment through his body. Rito quickly slipped out from under his covers, thankfully with his briefs still on him this time, ears and face red-hot from the fresh wave of emotion washing over him. The merciless chuckle from Momo as she sat up, draped in his covers, did nothing to help him calm down as he quickly got up and went to use the washroom. He couldn't tell if Momo was pouting as he left, he knew she would have dragged him back under the covers if she could, so he dare not look back and fall for her ploy.

Having snagged a fresh set of clothes that he had set out the night before, Rito quickly showered and dressed, before exiting the bathroom to go downstairs to the kitchen. He heard the water running once more, signifying that Momo was now utilizing the facilities and allowing him a good half hour to get breakfast ready in peace. Walking past the front door and taking a right into the family room, he continues on past the couch and into the empty dining room and its kitchen adjacent. He sighed as he felt the cold timbers of the kitchen underneath his feet, as he looked towards the small, empty table in the marble floored dining room. It was days like these, when Momo woke up in his bed having snuck in, that made him feel something that was a cross between nostalgia and confusion, then followed by crippling loneliness. Something always seemed to be amiss, lacking when he came down the stairs foolishly expecting the smells of a hot, cooked meal already being served up for breakfast, something his body seemed to be expecting, but his mind could not remember why. His memories were mixed up, jumbled and locked behind some sort of psychological trigger, just waiting to fire and release them back into his pounding skull. Yet every day he waits for something to change, something to give, even just a little bit, he finds himself more isolated and alone despite the occasional company of the Devilukean Princess.

' _It was funny,_ ' he thought as he opened up the cupboards to retrieve pans and tools for his breakfast, ' _How I used to think she was out to steal my soul, when we met in that park that night._ ' He picked out some rice, some milk, eggs, and other necessary ingredients from the fridge and pantry to make a double breakfast for himself and his house guest. The woman had saved him all those years ago, so he always provided her breakfast before she disappeared back off into her own world, leaving him behind alone. ' _I should be more grateful, really, for her saving me from my own world,_ ' Rito thought as he cracked a few yellow eggs into a bowl, ' _She told me how people had persecuted me for being different, how they shunned me and turned me away, thinking I was just perverted teenage punk..._ ' He discards the eggshells and washes his hands of any of the blue egg whites. Retrieving the dashi stock, he sets it to the side and prepares a pan with oil. As it heats up, Rito then moves to measure out the proper amounts of rice and water into the instant rice cooker Momo had provided him with.

" _Don't forget the mirin, it's an important seasoning that helps set the omelet,_ " a feminine voice states, " _Just make sure it's real mirin, not one of those fake, starchy condiments..._ " Rito smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Thanks for the reminder, I almost forgot about that!" he states in gratitude, as he gets down to look through the bottom cupboards where the oils and sauces were put, "How'd you know I was making an omelet M..?" He turns to find himself in an empty kitchen, the sizzling of a pan and the sound of running water going through the pipes all he can hear. "Huh?" Rito looks around the room, finding no one there. Shrugging it off, Rito's mind catches the smell of smoking oil, and all thoughts turn towards preparing the food. By the time he gets finished rolling the omelet, the rice has finished cooking, and he brings out the plates to serve it up. Getting the rice plated, he moves the omelet to a cutting board and he slices it into four pieces. Taking and plating two for himself, he cuts the remaining two diagonally, then arranges them on the plate to the way he knew Momo liked.

The one thing that Rito couldn't get used too was how colorful the dish was. While most of the food items were familiar, or earth-equivalent, using alien eggs to make breakfast was quite an interesting prospect. The rich, red yolks with blue egg whites, made an omelet that was purple, something that seemed unappealing at first glance but once it hit your tongue the differences were mainly the color. His rice, for instance, was white and long grain, but he could tell it was different from earth-bred cousin, though eating it was a familiar comfort to him. " _Don't forget to make her rice porridge,_ " Rito hears a faint voice speak again, " _Add the honey too, she's been getting a sweet tooth for it..._ " Again he turns around to where he think the voice is coming from, yet no one is in the room with him. Now that he had heard it again, he couldn't dismiss it as someone talking to him. He had to have been going crazy, either that or he was remembering...

At that, Rito perks up and widens his eyes in surprise. It hadn't even occurred to him that he was remembering things from his old life, before the memory loss. He wondered if the person he was hearing was important to him, or someone he knew and ate a lot with. There was at least a third person she was referring too as well, meaning he must have had a big family, maybe a younger sister even. Momo would know, since she had been watching him before he had taken him away from the Earth, but he wasn't sure how happy she would be about it. Ever since he came to live in her agricultural paradise, he hadn't once remembered, or even dared ask, about his past after the first week. He had been questioning her a lot, about the flowers, the air, the sun, the place, and she had answered them all in turn. She had collected plants from across the universe, explained that the world around them was actually a virtual reality of sorts, a pocket of the universe outside of normal reality that maintained all the normal rules, including an artificial sun that provided heat and light comparable to the earth's sun. Then he asked her why he had been chosen by her to come here, why he couldn't remember people in his life before, and why she went to the lengths she did to make him happy? She had frozen at that, made some offhanded excuse about 'an important date' coming up, and saying she would be gone for a while, but assuring him he had enough stuff set up in the house she had programmed in for I'm to survive until she came back with refills.

She had been gone for three weeks, and while he had had enough food to last, he had at first been afraid that he had said something wrong and offended her. She had warned him that while he was safe in the area she had designated as his, going beyond certain areas were ill advised without her guidance. There were Touch-me-nots that could shoot seeds the size of softballs, like cannonballs. Then there were Dazuul vines that could ensnare him just by touch alone, or giant carnivorous plants able to swallow whole humanoids, or produce berries that smell deceptively sweet that cause death to those who eat it, so that seeds could take root in the carcass and use it like fertilizer. Despite the threat of death ever looming around him, Rito was overjoyed when Momo had appeared, a little more tired, a little more drained of energy, she had been the most closed off she had ever been around him. Yet she was back, and for that Rito was grateful for a bit of companionship to stave of the loneliness.

Blinking his eyes and coming out of his daydreams, Rito sets the rest of the food he had prepared for himself and Momo onto the plates, and then waits to hear the footsteps of his guest. With a fresh set of Devilukean clothes on, and a white towel wrapped around her head as she lets it dry, he watches as her face morphs into an expression of joy at seeing the hot food on the table. While her intrusion and invasion of his personal space was quite unwelcome, he knew such incidents were rare and a sign that something was stressful in life when it resulted in her sneaking into his rooms just so she could tease him in the morning afterwards; a bit of familiarity and humor she used to wind down and get a better perspective. He also knew that despite her status as a princess, hot food was the one luxury she rarely was able to partake in, due to the unknown factors and threats from outside sources to the royal family necessitating food tasters that resulted in cold breakfasts. And no one should spend their morning lacking in good food and association. "Rito, you shouldn't have!" she beams, as she lets him pull out a chair and push it back in, "Omelets and rice for breakfast!" She inhaled the pleasing aromas of the food, and salivated at the purple delicacy. "Even cut into little hearts, like you know I like them?" she says, looking to Rito with a grateful expression, "I...I don't know how to tell you how happy getting truly pampered like this feels like..." Rito merely smiles in return, forgetting the hallucinations for the moment, and wanting to spend the morning eating and talking with his friend and savior.

"You know I don't get to use these skills that often, not that I seem to possess a lot of skill," Rito jokes, "After all, it only took thirty practice omelets to finally get the recipe right." She giggles as she takes a bite of rice, nearly choking on it from laughing so hard. After a sip of water, and a reassurance she was okay, Rito calmed down. "I was afraid I would have to explain to your family why you died," he says, smiling, "Sorry sir, your girl thought my joke was so funny, she died laughing?' I could see how that would pan out..." After a nervous laugh from him, Momo seems to stare at him a bit, before resuming their breakfast in silence. "So, uh, I know I don't get to ask you this often, but it has been two years now... could, I, uh, possibly get any hint at to who I was before?" Rito asks, swallowing his nerves after a stretch of silence, and looking into Momo's eyes with a hopeful expression, "I mean, it seems like you knew me before, but can't you tell me anything about who I was before the accident.. maybe, if I had a sister, or a daughter.." Suddenly the glass of water slips from Momo's hands and falls to the table, tipping over and spilling the water onto the tablecloth. "Oh, geez!" Rito states, worry in his voice as he gets a rag out of the kitchen and begins to blot at the water staining the cloth, "Be more careful Momo, you should be happy that didn't break the glass!"

Momo merely grabs her napkin and wipes the crumbs from her face, before folding the napkin neatly and placing her utensils on it. She folds her hands, and after a few minutes of staring into them, she looks up at Rito with a painfully honest, regretful look. "You know I can't do that Rito... anything I say or do, could put you into jeopardy," she states, seriousness on her face as she talks, "I made a promise to you, to my- myself too, that I would not divulge your place here in my paradise, or your past that would cause you to start remembering." She unfolds her hands, but sees the disappointment in his eyes. "Rito... If I said anything, and that's a big if, the people I hid you from would be able to track you, be able to find you here," Momo states, as she gets up and walks closer to him grabbing for his hands, "They have incredible power, eyes and ears just about everywhere, and if they knew you were here, defenseless, they would do anything in their power to break your trust in me, in everything I've done for you, just for their own amusement." She grabs his hands and pulls him closer to her chest. "Promise me, promise me, you'll just let this go and stop trying to learn about your past, okay Rito?" she asks with a smile, "Sometimes the past is less painful when you can't remember it..." He doesn't know what to say, but he pulls away from her with a neutral expression. It isn't soon afterwards that he watches her leave the room, and hears the front door slam.

Ten seconds later he has his shoes on and is running out the door, catching a glimpse of her tail as she just goes beyond the thicket of trees that borders his habitation. He makes the decision to follow her, intent on finding answers, so he runs through the trees, consequences be damned onto the other side. As he passes under dark patches of shadow, past strangler vines, meadows and fields of flowers of all colors, shapes, and sizes, he keeps his eyes focused on Momo, as she flies through the air on her disappearing wings. He makes it through a field of blue poppies, when he finds himself watching her leave through a mysterious glowing portal held within a very civilized looking area that seemed to be the hub of many branching paths that stretch into his territory and beyond, to places he dare not go now. He had questions, about where she went, what he had been seeing, why she wanted to keep him locked away, and the hallucinations were just the tip. His burning curiosity had been lit long ago, contained for ages until the straw finally broke. Rito had to know, and if it meant following Momo into some strange, parallel, hellish landscape, he was intent of following her to the ends of the earth, if it meant he got his answers. Stepping up to the glowing portal, Rito pauses and gulps, until he steps into the shimmering field and finds himself in pure light.

++++++++++++++++++

 _[Elsewhere]_

The experience is fleeting and disorienting, threatening to spill his breakfast on cool tile floor, but the queasiness passes and he finds himself alone in a room that causes his head to hurt. The area is alien, unrecognizable, and the least bit human to him, yet parts of it seemed comforting, almost familiar to him too. Standing up and looking back at his doorway home, he recognizes it as a mirror now, a form it lacked on the other side, back in Momo's paradise. Perhaps he was just dead, and by leaving the world he was given behind, he had failed some cosmic test and he would be condemned because of it. Not stopping to think about that for too long, Rito gets up and begins to go for the only way in or out of this room besides the mirror: the door. Walking out of it, he finds himself in a large, empty hallway, though this place too seems familiar. Deciding to pick a random direction, Rito walks and walks and walks, until his feet begin to ache, and he finds himself stopping in front of a door more unusual and grander than the rest of the ones he passed by. This one was still plain, yet it seemed to call to him from with in it. 'No, Rito, ignore it, just turn around and go back' a voice of logic seems to whisper in his ear, 'Nothing good will come about if you go into that door, trust me...' He wants to listen to the familiar, soothing voice that erases the headaches, but the curiosity, the burning itch on his left hand as he reaches out to grasp the handle of the door...

He opens the door to find an empty room filled with discarded toys and full of dust, something which irritates his eyes and mouth, as he coughs and bats away a swirl of dust he kicked up introducing fresh air into the workspace. Walking in and closing the door behind him, he finds a light that illuminates the remainder of the room, which he finds lined to the brim with electronics, gadgets, robots, and all around doodads scattered both around the walls and the floors, untouched for ages by the thick layer of dust on the surface of the work table. Wiping a finger on the table just to see if this was real, he is amazed at how perfectly preserved the room is. Despite its seemingly chaotic appearance, he recognized a unique sense of underlying order within the room, something that caused his heart to flutter. When he laid his eyes on the small, winged doll left alone on the worktable, Rito feels a sense of pity and remorse at seeing such a beautiful thing rusting away on a dusty bench, and decides to pick it up. 'Her name is Peke, she's my companion!' a cheerful voice states from behind him, 'She changes my clothes into hundreds of fashionable and functional designs, from costumes to cloaks, to diplomatic dresses to fezs, Peke can do it all!'

"Can you bring her back?' he muses to himself aloud, before he blinks and wonders why he said that. Shaking it off, he looks the doll over, and finds that one of her power cells under her wings seem to be misaligned. "Let's pop that back in..." Rito states aloud, grabbing a nearby tool that looks like some magic wand up from some dusty workbench, realigning the disk, then replacing the panel with a snap, "There we go, Peke, let's see how you work!" With much patience, Rito waits for the dolls swirling eyes to start spinning, its joints to start moving, or even its tinny voice to start whining, just to show it was working. He wants to let his anger get the better of him, to throw away the broken doll, and just return to that garden world Momo 'gifted' him with, but instead he breaks down, right there, falling to his knees sobbing and clutching the little robot to his chest. "W-work, P-peke, work damn you!" Rito states, letting tears flow down his shirt as he feels the smooth, bald head of the robot held underneath his head, tears falling down his cheeks and spilling over onto it, "You were my only shot at getting any answers, why I am here, why I can't remember, why Momo has been keeping me locked up in her room!" Rito doesn't expect her to answer, he already knew it wouldn't work, so why did he bother trying to use the multipurpose tool like he knew how to use it... He wasn't familiar with alien mechanics, and for all he knew he just short circuited the electronics, proving just how much of a klutz he was. "If only I could remember who I am, what I'm missing," he sobs, "If only she were here, instead of me, she would have fixed you right..." Suddenly a click caused Rito to pause, then a clank caused him to slow his tears, until a whir caused hope to rise up in his chest, and finally the harmonious symphony of Peke reactivating and slowly coming back to life causes a smile and look of awe and wonder to grace his tired face.

He watches as hands begin to move, followed by feet, as if testing their stiffness after waking from a long nap. Suddenly closed eyes become swirling black pools, and eyebrows begin to move as a range of expressions seem to play upon the little robots face, before wings spread out and the robot began to lift itself up and out of Rito's arms. It stared at him, a look of curiosity, or confusion playing across her face, before it turns away from him in silent disregard, and begins to head for the door. "Peke?" Rito asks, "Peke, do you know where you are, who I am?" His question is hopeful, but ignored by the little robot who seems to be focused on another task. Slowly he follows the little robot out, and journeys behind her not once taking his eyes off of the robot out of concern for her muteness, as she finally reaches a room with wide double doors. Seemingly frozen, not doing anything but floating aimlessly in front of the doorway, Rito hesitates for a brief second before weighing the costs and opening the door for the robot. Following her in, he closes the door and is greeted with only darkness and more dust. It takes a moment, but he finds a light and illuminates the room. He looks around in awe, as he notices the immediate difference between the room he found himself earlier in, and the one now. A bed larger than one he had ever seen before graces the center with a massive, overhanging canopy, pink curtains draping against pink and black bed sheets, matching the overall, sickening pink walls.

In one corner another, smaller worktable is set up with more forgotten tools and trinkets. Where one expected a girls room to be laden with toys and stuffed animals, Rito was surprised by the large mechanical creations, blueprints spread across the room and hanging off of the walls, some half finished or destroyed. All were ignored by Peke as she flew to the small worktable and set herself down in front of its computer, watched by Rito as he drew closer. Finally the little robot turned back around to face Rito, catching him off guard by her sudden change in stance, before a beam of light seems to emanate from the computer and engulf the room in a blue, sectioned pattern that swept around the empty room. Satisfied the room grows dim again, before Peke transforms before Rito's very eyes into a little girl with dead pink eyes, pink hair in side buns, and a uniform matching the robot's body. "It was a mistake for you to come here Rito," the little android girl says, "You should have stayed ignorant, but it appears your curiosity has gotten the better of you, once again..." Rito wonders what she means, but suddenly the girl is in his face as he barely blinks, staring up into his eyes, shocking Rito into taking a half-step back. "Do you feel it Rito, the pulse in your ears?" she asks, cocking her head with a neutral expression that just creeps Rito out and fills his heart with terror, "Hold on to it, and remember that you are alive." Suddenly Rito finds himself gasping and choking as tiny, slim hands wrap around his throat and begin to squeeze, causing him to claw at her hands as she grasps at him from below.

He feels his head begin to pound, his throat constrict with the pressure being poured into it, and the shallow, futile gasps as he tries to suck in air, all in vain. "Wake up Rito," a voice states, as he falls to his knees while being suspended by the androids sheer strength, seeing spots form and feeling blood vessels burst beneath her touch, until the dizzying dark begins to encroach upon him, "Stop fighting me Rito." Then as suddenly as he was gasping for breath, a flash of hot, sizzling heat is felt across his face, and the pressure is gone from his throat, while he takes long, deep, breaths of sweet, sweet air. He looks to see what happened to Peke, trying to orient himself, and he finds a gruesome sight. Half burned flesh and melted metal pools beneath the remainder of Peke's android body, the whole right side of its head gone as it lays on its side, pooling oil and other various internal fluids onto the floor. Looking to see what, or rather who, had saved him, he finds himself staring at a panicked looking Momo, out of breath, and holding a wickedly large, dangerous, three pronged weapon still sparking with energy and electricity as she releases the trigger and lets the gun fall to the floor.

Suddenly she finds her way over to a stunned Rito, before he feels the stinging hot slap she delivers to his cheek, wiping off the relief from his face. "What the heck Rito?" she states, as he stands, and she finds herself grabbing his head and keeping it still while inspecting his sore neck, "You should be glad that the Castle's internal security picked up Peke's energy signature and alerted me too it, before any of the others became aware!" She lets go of his face, before turning around and running her hands through her hair, her tail spinning in circles behind her, showing her obvious anxiety as it lashes out at the air behind her, a tell Rito had picked up after being near her for so long. "Damn it, all my work to keep you safe, and you go and do something foolish like this, so close to her..." she doesn't realize she is muttering a bit too loudly to herself, something Rito also picks up on, "Nana is already on her way here, and I can't hide you in my room because it is across the castle grounds..." Suddenly the door opens and Momo freezes, while Rito watches in awe as another, less buxomly version of Momo walks into the room in clothing similar to Momo's, but distinguishable from the green outfit by incorporating aspects of red into the outfit.

"What the heck do you think you are doing activating Peke like that Momo, you know how unpredictable she's been since Big Sis disapp..." The words in her mouth die as she sets her eyes on Rito, the concern on her face being replaced with venomous, spitting fury directed towards him, "YOU! Momo, what have you done?" Suddenly Rito finds a pair of hands behind his back, as Momo is hovering behind him and grabbing him by the back of his collar. She zooms past the angry, shouting girl and barrels through the hallway, causing rooms and people to blur as she flies haphazardly back to her room, before pushing Rito back inside it and through the portal to the other side.

They both are left breathless by the experience, and Rito almost questions why she ran, when a third figure follows through the portal and lands on her feet. Momo stands protectively in front of him, while the other girl just glowers at Rito. "Why are you protecting him?" the girl asks as she crosses her arms and frowns, "You and I both know he was the last person to see her alive, before the accident..." Momo cuts her off, rudely at that point.

"He doesn't remember Nana," she states to the girl, obviously Nana, and possibly her sister or twin, "Rito wasn't responsible for it, he doesn't even know her anymore, not after..."

At that the girl raises her eyebrow at Momo and focuses on her. "Not after what, Momo?" Nana asks, "What aren't you telling me?" Momo seems torn, between Rito and Nana, looking back and forth between the two, while Nana seems to simmer in her anger. "Rito Yuuki failed her, failed our Father's test, failed his planet, and managed to get a hold of level ten tech that wiped all of our memories of our own sister... and here you are defending him?" Nana states, obviously hurt, though this confuses Rito greatly, as he doesn't know which sister they were referring to, "You know, if it wasn't for Peke surviving the crash, we wouldn't have ever even known that Lala had died, even if it hadn't been his fault, if he hadn't have failed, Lala wouldn't have had felt she needed to run..." She looks to Rito and points directly at him. "And if you weren't such a coward, running away at the slightest opportunity when things aren't going your way, Lala would have married you, just like you wanted!" Nana states, "Or maybe she would have had her heart broken if you failed, and watched your world get obliterated like Father wanted, but you disappearing before the race even finished was the last straw, you... you... indecent scum that sullied our sister's memory!" Rito was confused, the pounding in his head was growing worse, while his neck was aching even more, and the rising panic and short breathes he was forced to deal with weren't helping matters as he froze underneath her anger and spite.

" _Stop it!_ " Momo yells, drawing the attention back to her, "Rito didn't do it... he didn't wipe our memories of Lala, either." Nana looks to her sister, as does Rito. "Rito wasn't at the race... because I captured him before it ever took place, I wiped his memories of Lala, of himself, before the race even began and took him away," Momo states, as Rito and Nana both stare at her in disbelief and shock, "Lala had made a failsafe, in case Rito lost it was a gamble she would have made to spare the Earth of its destruction, and I found out about it and took it for my own purposes." She looks up at Rito, sadness and regret in her eyes as he stared at her in confusion, before she turned and steeled herself to look at Nana. "Father consulted with me to get a plant capable of ensnaring and failing Rito in his task, while I was consulting with him on his ship, I wondered in secret what made our older sister go mad for that man... and I grew jealous when I found out that not only was he seeing our sister, but a host of other girls that held affection for him in various ways, including a girl with purple hair that had a place in his heart equal to our sister's," as she speaks, understanding and uncertainty grace Nana's face, while she listens to Momo continue, "Then I learned our sisters plans, and took and modified it before stealing Rito away for myself... unfortunately as I smuggled him away on our ship, our dear sister confronted me once she learned her device was missing, and in a resulting struggle the gun went off and hit her... she forgot about him, about why we were there, and so she panicked and ran away again..."

At that horror graces Nana's face, as Momo just sits down with her head in her hands. "She took Peke and ran, no questions asked, and fled into space in an escape pod, it- malfunctioned, and just before it exited the atmosphere it blew up," Momo states, as Rito feels tears pool in his eyes and down his face, despite the fact that none of this was making sense to him, "She didn't die from sabotage, or whatever else you think you can blame Rito with, it was me; I c-caused her t-to run away a-again," she says, breaking down into sobs, "I k-killed my own sister with my j-jealousy..." She sobs into her arms and legs, curling in on herself, fearing her sister's lashing tongue and anger more than anything else. Instead she feels a pair of arms wrap around her, as the wailing and sobs she gave off were joined by another. Nana had joined her sister in crying over the loss of Lala. Rito just watched on, numb to the feelings they felt, hollow inside, but outside he felt his face heat up and eyes blur. He felt like this should mean something to him, but it didn't. It couldn't be real, it wasn't real, and yet the emotions displayed in front of him were full of true loss and sorrow, something that just couldn't be faked. And so he too cried, even if he couldn't understand why.

"Please, Rito, don't hate me for all of this," Momo states, after the sobbing is through and they had regained a sense of normalcy. She had gotten up off the ground with Nana's help, and was now standing sullenly before Rito, seeking repentance. "I know- I know what I did was unforgivable; stripping you of your memories of yourself took more than I had expected, I didn't want you to hate me, or remember Lala, but things went too far," Momo states, rubbing her elbow and arm, "When Lala died- it was unexpected, but I had already erased your memories, and I had hidden you before we even left for Earth, that it was impossible to take you back without you being implicated in her death, so shortly after your disappearance..." She picks a stray lock from her bangs and stuffs it behind her ear, looking up at Rito with a smile. "You were innocent, so caring and kind, despite practically erasing your sense of self, and then I decided if I couldn't take you home, if I couldn't replace my sister in your heart, I could live up to my Sister's memory by making your life there, perfect," she states with a sorrowful smile, "I didn't think you would really question me, I didn't believe you would want your memories back if I lied about them, hid your past from you; If I made you happy, I figured you would never want to leave..."

' _You've lusted after me all this time? You give me a new life, you desire to satisfy my whim, and expect me to give everything over to you in return? You stole my life away from me, stole me away from my family and yours, and you expect me to love you?_ ' Thoughts like these raced through his head as he watched her, ' _I pity you Momo, but I understand; you don't love me, you love your sister and couldn't stand to see her hurt herself ._ " Instead of blaming her, or letting her know how he really felt, he grasped his hand tightly into a fist and glanced up with a neutral face. "You didn't just seek to replace her in my mind, you desired to see exactly what made your sister fall in love with me, and you fell in love with me too," Rito mutters, with a hint of bitterness in his tone, before he shifts to a louder, less happy one, "I think I always knew the truth Momo, but now knowing the truth, how could I ever trust you again?" She had lied and said that she had taken Rito away from a world that scorned and ridiculed him for being different. Maybe she had, but he had too much time lost on his hands to ever know. Momo looked surprised, even a bit disappointed, but he knew she deserved the rejection, the feeling of guilt left behind now like a sprouting seed. She had lived a lie too long to ever feel true remorse, but he didn't hold it against her really. He had enjoyed their time together after all, despite what he knew now to be the truth.

"I- I think I need to leave," Rito states, looking at Nana now, "Can you- can you take me back to Earth, maybe even give me back my memories?" Nana looks between Momo and Rito, then stepping away from her sister, she walks up towards Rito and puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"I- I think after a bit of explanation to my Father, and consulting a doctor, we can arrange that," Nana states, "For now, maybe staying here with Momo isn't going to be the best for you; I'll have a servant make up quarters for you, and we can explain everything in the morning." Rito nods, then follows Nana back to and through the portal to the other side. Nana glances back at a mournful Momo, and steps through the portal to follow Rito and pick up the pieces.

Momo watches as Rito walks away from her life and back into reality, while she is left behind. Holding up her left hand, she looks at the imperceptible band circling, wriggling like a living thing across her skin. The red string unwinds and unravels as if fleeing and coming off of her finger will save it. While she views it with curiosity, it is already flying away and dissipating into regular light. "You won't be able to stop him, you know; he's choosing to fight for her, even if right now it's only subconsciously," Momo sighs, as she watches the sky above darken with the sunset, "She asked me to protect him from you, but now he's determined to make his own path." She doesn't turn, but she feels the dark presence behind her, sending chills up her spine and causing her to shudder. She brushes it off and continues to view the darkening world around her. "He thrives off of his connections, while you just cut yourself off from those who love you," she states defiantly, as the darkness raises its appendage, "That is why he won't lose." Suddenly she takes a sharp breath, as a sword slides out from her stomach, having been violently thrust into her as she finished speaking. She collapses to the ground, before the man walks over her body and leaves the empty, dark void, now drained of all life within it, before the portal collapses behind him, shattering the mirror on the other side.

 **A/N: Whuh... Huh?**

 _ **Looks around, as a spotlight shines down on him, blinding the Author and making him everything around seem black**_

 **A: What happened?**  
 **A: Where am I?**

 _ **Looks around to see rope is tied around him, keeping him seated in his chair**_

 **A: Hey, what's going on... where's my story...**

 **Sees an open laptop, with finished draft set up for approval**

 **A: Okay... I don't remember writing this, or tying myself to this chair...**

 _ **Screen goes black, as writing scrolls across the laptop**_

 **Hello, sorry for this cloak and dagger nonsense. Hope you enjoy your new chapter... I left the disclaimer for you.**

 **A: Okay... As always, I do not own To-Love Ru.**

 _ ***Fade to black***_

 ** _(Echoing Voice)_** **A: But who tied me up?**


	43. To-Love like Animals

_**So, it seems a few of you are starting to doubt the beginnings of our new story, hmm? Well, fret not loyal followers, you aren't all that far off. As I stated before, this was a story regarding an Alternative Universe. A few parallels and similarities are surfacing, that is all. Don't pay them any mind. Answers, though, you may find in the coming chapters ahead.**_

 _ **As for Rito, shall we see where his journey home with Nana takes him?**_

Indigo skies stretched on over the horizon, while he stared out over the unfamiliar landscape filled with towering buildings and milling with people.

 _{Earlier}_

Rito blinks as he arrives on the other side of the portal, to see Nana addressing a servant who hurriedly turns to leave, with Nana closing the door after her. "I just sent to have a ship readied by morning, they'll also inform my father that I wish to have a 'chat' with him," Nana states, as she holds her hands behind her back and uncomfortably smiles at Rito, "I'm afraid we'll have to walk to where the Royal physicians quarters are located, but in the meantime it will allow me to get another servant to make up a room for you for the night." Rito nods, and then follows her out of the door, just a few paces behind her.

As they walk the halls, they remain quiet all up until they come across another maid, or whomever they are, and Nana orders them to make up a room. He smiles nervously as they pass unfamiliar, alien people, all who wear the garb of a servant, yet appear to have the same tails as the daughters, but with more regular hair color, or other oft bizarre biological differences; like a girl whom had spiral horns, or the man with whose skin was half black, half white. He took notice of Nana too, and how physically in all but her breast size and hair length, from behind she was startlingly similar to Momo. No, that wasn't quite right, though it had something to do with the shape of her but... Suddenly blushing red, Rito derails that train of thought and stares up at the grand hallways, noticing a unique feature in the ceilings.

"Nana, what do the stories in the paintings tell?" Rito asks, looking up at the odd artwork, which seemed to differ in form, style, even color when it changed to focus on someone new, "Is it just artwork, or does it have some kind of meaning?" Nana is taken off guard at his curiosity, but she smirks and glances backwards at him for a half step, before continuing forward towards the physician.

"You're halfway right, Rito, the murals do tell a story, but it also acts as a witness to the history of our peoples, both our successes and our failures," Nana states, as she stops under a specific arch and points to a man surrounded by armies on both sides, "For instance, this story tells us of the history behind a civil war on our planet centuries, if not millennia ago, when the royal line came into question with no clear successors in sight." She motions her hands over to another depiction in the same style, of a man sitting on a throne surrounded by skulls, fires, and darkness, whereas the man seen earlier was standing before him, an aura of light around him. "The former king's death had split the kingdom, and the closest living relative of age to take the throne was the King's only nephew, a young man who was said to have been the fairest, kindest, most noble and self-sacrificing of the potential candidates, yet when his time came, even he failed our people," Nana says, while Rito was enraptured, imagining the tale playing out in his mind, "The king,before his death graciously, had secretly sent his son away for training, as he was young and barely four years old while the King lay on his death bed; what the regent could not control, fell into the hands of murders, thieves, and extortionists, and the boy-king witnessed this, before rising up to take back the lost land, before claiming the throne as his birthright." She pointed to a new picture, which showed the shadowy man fleeing into mountains, while the true king stood with a united Kingdom behind him. "The boy-king, repulsed with everything that happened while his cousin ruled the land, stripped him of his name, his very inheritance, and exiled him far away from those who he could do harm," Nana states, "It was said he was mad, draining our peoples resources searching for the power of the old gods' so-called 'Pale People' we had proved to be false gods, and later drove back to whatever realm, planet, or dimension they had hailed from." Rito felt a nagging sense of doubt in his mind, that there was something more important to be added to the story, but he acquiesced that she knew these paintings better than he.

Stopping in front of a door, she knocks, and a very tired looking man with graying hair peeks out from the doorway. "Ah, Princess Nana, what can I do for you, at such a late hour?" he asks, before looking over at Rito, noticing him standing just off to the side, "Perhaps you should come in..." Stepping aside, he invites the princess and Rito in, before closing the door and motioning for them to take seats on some nearby chairs. "Well, how about I put some water on to boil," the Doctor says, "Then we can talk over some nice, warm cups of tea." Rito bowed his head graciously and thanked the man, while Nana informed him that she too would take a cup. By the time he returns, Nana regales him with the tale of Rito's misfortune in losing his memory, but nothing unnecessary or of ill intent towards Momo.

"Ah, one of the Lala's inventions... hmm, well in a normal case such as this, the answer is clear," the Doctor states, taking a sip of tea as he speaks, "While the device suppresses memories, it cannot actually remove them, so in a sense you have a very stubborn case of amnesia." He looks towards Rito and strokes his chin. "While Deviluke is unfamiliar to you, I take it, the best course of action would be for you to return home, surround yourself with what should be familiar to you, interact with people you see in pictures, or in your dreams, and hope that your memories naturally overcome the block." He drains his cup, before frowning and looking towards Rito once more. "What is odd, though, is the fact that you are only now regaining your lost memories, since it seems that you retain basic skills and knowledge regarding food and other things in life pertaining to your home planet," the doctor states, "While I mean no offense to your sister, princess, Lala's inventions usually wear off, or rather never work as intended, not at first; so this case is very unusual, so I would merely give it some time." Rito merely rubs the back of his neck out of nervousness, while Nana gets up and thanks the man for his patience in answering their questions. "It was no problem, really," he says as he opens the door for them to leave, "Just remember to give it time, Rito, and don't fight the memories, no matter how confusing or disorienting they are... a journal, perhaps, may help you jot down what you remember." Rito thanks him profusely, before following Nana out the door and to his sleeping arrangements.

 **OoOoOoOoO**

The next morning, when Rito wakes up in a bed, alone and unfamiliar, he nearly has a panic attack. After a few seconds he calms down, recognizing that he was in fact exactly where he went to sleep last night in the room that Nana gave him. Finding some clothes near by, likely given to him to replace his old ones, Rito found the shower and quickly changed into his new clothes. By then he hears a knock at the door, only to find Nana standing there with a bowl of fresh fruit in her hand, some of which he recognized from his meals with Momo and her Devilukean plants, or other alien cuisine. "I'm sorry, there wasn't much I know about what you humans can eat, so I played it safe and brought you some fresh fruit for now," Nana states, as she passes the bowl to him and motions him to follow, "We can requisition more food at the space port for you, the ship's galley has a wide array of alien cuisine that I am sure you can supplement your diet with until you return to earth..." Rito nods and follows her, through the winding hallways, until they get to an air car, where a driver holds the door open for them, as Nana motions for Rito to get inside.

"Thank you, really, I recognize most of these as edible, Momo wasn't shy about getting me to try various Devilukean foods, among other things," Rito states, "I found that I particularly disdain the gourmand seasoning utilizing dark matter... horrible stench and flavor, but in its own putrid way it can be appealing to certain tastes." Nana laughs at that, much to Rito's confusion, as she wipes a tear from her eye. "It's funny, now that I think back about it, I must have tasted it somewhere before," Rito says, to Nana's interest, "Yeah, somehow I knew what it was before she even opened up the package, I had to stay ten feet from it, or else I felt the urge to puke." She breaks out in hysterics, and Rito just nervously chuckles, popping a grape in his mouth.

"That must have been Lala's doing," Nana states, wiping more tears from her eyes, sobering up a little, "The girl put it on everything, and if you let her do the cooking, I'm sure she tried to make a Devilukean dish utilizing that ingredient; without a doubt her favorite semi-solid spice." She looks out to the windows, as engines roar to life and the car begins to lift up off of the ground and be propelled forward. It wasn't quite flying, but Rito felt the difference between this and a normal car ride, even if he couldn't remember what a 'car' exactly was. He stared at the city, passing through walls and districts, until he began to take notice of the looming shapes on the horizon, followed by the immediate departure, or landing of these shapes. Trails of black, or billows of white flowed from various ships of different kinds, constructs, makes, and models; alien races no doubt utilizing different construction and fuels in their extra-planetary vehicles.

"Are one of these our ship?" Rito asks, as he stares at gleaming, towering behemoths, standing tall and proud, or short and stocky, yet inspiring him all with the same awe, "Which one is ours?" Nana points through the window towards a place a little bit a ways from the others, and the gob-smacked look on Rito's face was priceless, in Nana's books. Towering high above any skyscraper or building Rito saw in the massive, alien city, and probably as wide as one, a giant ship seemed to rest above the ground, practically a city in its own right. "That's your ship?" Rito asks, looking back at Nana in confusion, "I know you need to take me home, but isn't that a bit much?" Nana smiles, and motions for Rito to sit back.

"It's actually one of my Father's personal vessels, piloted by one of my Father's most famous, incredibly loyal generals, a man I would trust with my life, who has been serving my family, and his King, since the great galactic war," Nana states, "Zastin Diskenthis second in power only to my father, second-in-command of Deviluke's space naval fleet, and the crown Princesses royal escort when leaving the planet." He detected a little note of bitterness at that last statement, but he let it slide, happy to meet someone who Nana trusted with her life.

 **OoOoOoOoO**

Rito regretted it almost instantly, upon meeting the cold, hardened man that Nana had spoken of so fervently on the ride over. He looked down at Rito with disdain, cold blue eyes that froze him like ice, as he stared at Rito with contempt. "He should be dismembered where he stands," Zastin had spat upon locking eyes with him, an unknown hatred rising at seeing the earth boy standing before him, "He failed Lala-hime when she needed him most; without him, the universe would still have their favored princess, and you would not be having to deal with the repercussions this..." Before he could go further, Nana put her foot down, literally. The floor echoed with the ringing of the heavy heel hitting hollowly on the deck plating.

" _One_ more word from your mouth, and not even father will save you from being branded with treason, do you understand me Zastin?" Nana states, looking him in the eye, and causing even him to flinch, "Rito is as much a victim of the misunderstanding that took my sister away from the living world, don't treat him like a villain just because you blame him for her death; I have forgiven him, and so has Father, and we will speak of this no more." That shut him up real fast, though the cold disdain was still there in his eyes, Rito could feel it creeping along his skin as he walked past him to follow Nana to his quarters on the ship. It was a walk spent mostly in silence, until Nana broke it first.

"I'm sorry about him, he doesn't really blame you, not anymore than he blames himself," Nana states, as she crosses her arms and holds them tightly to her chest, "He was there, on Earth, he was supposed to watch over Lala and keep her safe, but his memories were taken just like everyone else; he was actually the first one to remember you Rito, and how you were her marriage candidate..." That bit of information was new to him, and Nana notices his shock. "Ah, I see you haven't remembered that much yet, but yes, Lala was engaged to be married to you," Nana states, "I'm sure Momo told you that you were being put on trial for Earth's future, for Gid's blessings, but in fact you had already been engaged and won Lala's heart over a year before that ridiculous contest occurred, before Lala lost her life." Rito nodded,it all sounding a bit familiar to him, now making sense to him why Momo was jealous of her sister's love.

"I remember bits and pieces of my life, I was in a tracksuit when Momo confronted me, but everything before that is a hazy blur," Rito confesses to Nana, "I know basic things, things Momo helped me to put names to, but up until yesterday, I never knew I loved someone else before-" He stops himself, and sighs, Nana seeing the hurt look across his face. "I never knew 'Lala', all I knew was that I might have had a sister, maybe two, when memories came back to me making breakfast yesterday," Rito states, as Nana stops in front of his room, before opening the door and letting Rito inside, "Do you- do you think you could tell me a little bit more about Lala, about your sister?" Nana smiles at that.

"I think I can, but I won't be able too right now," Nana states, "The captain requires me to be on deck with him until this evening, more for my safety than anything else." Rito looks crestfallen at that, but Nana puts a hand on his shoulder. "I just have to feed my animals tonight, so let's make plans for after dinner," Nana states, "You can meet me at my room tonight, and we can go to my Cyber Safari together." Rito perks up at that, and Nana is smiling when she departs.

 **OoOoOoO**

Waiting outside her door was killing him, a mixture of guilt, anticipation, and fear knotting his stomach as he knocked once more, hoping someone doesn't catch him in the act of walking into her room. Going into her room alone gave him more anxiety than necessary already, getting caught by that livid bodyguard would have definitely killed him. Suddenly the door opens before him, and Nan reveals herself at the door, thankfully still dressed in her normal clothes. 'At this time of night, Momo would have...', No, he had to stop thinking about her now, not if he wanted to move forward now.

Moving into the room, Nana looked outside, before smiling and closing the door behind her. "Good, no one saw you it seems," she states, as she walks over to a vanity mirror that is standing in the corner of her room, "This place is so much easier for me to relax in, no stress of being the princess in here and even Zastin respects my privacy in here..." He wonders exactly what she means, before she flips the switch and the portal swirls to life. Rito recognizes it as the same vortex that he left Momo's Cyber Safari through. His hesitation is obvious to Nana, who grins and grabs his hand, wrapping her fingers around his wrist, before pulling him in behind her. "Don't worry, Rito, it'll be fun, you'll see!" she laughs as she enters the vortex. Rito nearly panics as he steps into the light after her, before the feeling of fresh air is on his face, and he feels warm sunlight on his skin.

He missteps though, as he lands and tumbles over, bracing himself as he falls onto the stony path. Instead of cracking his skull open, he feels like he's just hit something soft and flat, and he dares to crack his eyes open in dread. Opening them fully, he notices he has fallen on top of Nana's chest, and his cheeks burn red as he gets up and straddles her, before that too embarrasses him and he scrambles off of her legs fully. He's blushing, embarrassingly staring downcast at the stone floors while avoiding eye contact with Nana, expecting her to yell at him and berate him. Nervously glancing over, he sees the blush across her nose and turning her cheeks pink, and he realizes that such a situation had probably never happened before to her, with her being a princess. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Nana, I just tripped, and I fell..." He states, as he scrambles to get up and help her up, only to find her chest heaving and her hunched over in what he assumes is pain, "Are you okay, did I break something?" Finally she breaks her silence, and a hiccupping laugh comes out.

"I'm- I'm sorry Rito, I was just- thinking about how you fell, it- it was great!" she exclaims through peals of laughter, "That was definitely unexpected, but I've had worse dates with my marriage candidates." Rito raises his eyes in alarm at that, but Nana waves him off. "It's fine, it's fine, I'm just used to guys trying to impress me, woo me into their beds, or try and sneak a hand in places they get stabbed for," Nana states as casual as can be, "Getting groped by someone I just met isn't ideal, but I'd rather it be an accident then on purpose, like a lot of my suitors stage it to be." Rito just nervously grins, as Nana pulls at the cuffs of his shirt to follow her. "I'll tell you about this one time, this short, creepy, little toad of a man tried to scare me into his arms, I kid you not, with a extremely rare predator that wasn't even native to the planet we were taking our date on," Nana states, as Rito follows her down some paths, past fields filled with frolicking critters of every kind, fuzzy,lovable, even slimy, "But he seems to forget I'm literally able to commune with animals, so he tries to act all brave and defend me, hoping I'd just jump into his arms or something, when this big, black, 'menacing' creature started lumbering out of the shadows..." As she continues talking, Rito suddenly feels like they are being watched. "Of course, right away I can tell it was a set up, I mean the poor thing looked so emaciated, of course it was desperate enough to go after sentient's!" Nana exclaims, throwing up her hands with a look of frustration, "The poor thing had been held in captivity all its life, then it was bought by my date, stuffed into some box and starved, before being set loose to try and scare me all to get its next meal; of course I had some words for him that day, and ended up taking the poor creature with me to get her treatment..."

The hairs on Rito's neck suddenly stood on end as he was walking behind Nana, and he turned to look and see what caused the unease. Feeling hot breath on his face as he turns, Rito is surprised to be staring at row after row of sharp teeth from within a massive maw, as a massive tongue reaches out towards him. "Aggh!" He chokes out, as he trips and falls backwards on his butt, garnering the attention of a narrating Nana. Snapping jaws miss as he falls, revealing a massive lizard with wings, some terrifying cross between a dragon and a dinosaur, which nearly caused Rito to have a heart attack.

"Hey, what did I tell you about harassing my guests; I invited him in here, you don't get to try and show your dominance just because he's another male!" Nana complains, bopping the big lizard on the nose, causing it to whimper and get low, staring up at her with sorrowful eyes, "Don't try to appease me, you know I asked you to guard Blackclaw while she was still acclimating in isolation!" The big brute is practically on his belly, before she sighs and brushes the hair out of her eyes with a swift gesture. "Fine, I'll come with you to see her, since I know she still doesn't trust others yet," she says and turns to point at Rito, the beast looking directly at him with curiosity, "He is your responsibility, you get in between him and Blackclaw if it comes down to it, ok you devious Drasuke?" The beast huffs, snorting through its massive nostrils before lumbering off towards somewhere else, while Nana turns back to Rito to help him up. "I'm sorry about Redwing, he is the predatory alpha in my Cyber Safari, I hatched him from an egg, so when I confiscated a female Drasuke around the same age as him, he's been wanting me to make a good impression on her for him, but she's so skittish around anything and anyone but me, and even then I don't think she trusts me fully yet." Rito gulps, as he watches the big create, a Drasuke stalk off into some nearby forest.

"Come on, we've got a ways to walk, so I can chat with you about Blackclaw and Lala," Nana states as she follows Redwing into the forest, "Redwing is a Drasuke, a predatory species from Draconis VI that lives most of their adult lives hunting for food on solar storms that ravage the planet; he's about seven draconian years old, nearing maturation for his kind, so those wings you saw on his back will be getting a growth spurt, as will he." She passes under a branch, and holds it back for Rito to follow, at which they find themselves both on a hidden path. "This is the way to the isolation habitation, I put it here to acclimate and screen newcomers for diseases or unwanted hitchhikers," she states as she walks under the archways of twisted vines and branches, "Blackclaw has spent six months in isolation so far, so she's pretty restless right now, but follow my instructions and she won't get a chance to do anything to you, especially with Redwing watching out for you," Nana states, "Now, what do you want to know about Lala?" The question nearly throws Rito off, but he quickly goes through the questions in his head.

"How did Lala come to Earth, and why did she take an interest in me?" Rito starts off, slowly but gathers his courage, "I'm just a regular guy, why would a cool, alien princess find me interesting, and how did it lead to marriage?" Nana smiles at that, before stopping and looking up between the branches at the artificial sky.

"Lala was free spirited, she wasn't stopped by anyone, or anything that stood in her path, not her sisters, not her father, and especially not any of her near limitless marriage candidates... well, ow my marriage candidates," Nana states, which surprises Rito, "She was crown princess, she was destined to be married off to the best suitor our Father could find, one he approved of and would be best for Deviluke's future, Lala ran away at a moment's notice, fleeing to a backwater planet that was off Deviluke's scanners." She looks at Rito and smiles, a hazy look in her eyes as she remembers her sister. "She was crazy, an inventor who came up with all kinds of things, including a transporter that didn't exactly work like you'd expect it too," Nana says, looking at Rito, "From what I hear you didn't take it so well at first, but when Smutts and Maul came for her, you defended her not even knowing who she was, put your own life at risk for her, and even jumped out your own window and onto the rooftops just to keep her safe; something no one has ever gone the lengths for her to have done before." Suddenly Rito begins to get dizzy, as the trees spin around him, and he tries to get a grip on reality. He feels hot, sweaty, like the night he did taking the warm, soothing bath, then... the girl, he can't see her face, appearing from thin air... the moonlight, and sound of the glass crashing around him, before cool air whipped through his hair...

Rito knows he isn't thinking straight, he knows the girl with pink hair is trying to say something, but he can't hear her voice, or even see her face clearly. "Lala?" his voice hoarsely groans, "Lala, what's going on, why can't I feel my...?" Grimacing in pain, he falters on his feet, before the girl grabs him and shakes him back to reality. At that, the world comes back into focus around him, and Rito sees Nana's face full of worry. "Nana..." Rito groans, as he puts a hand to his forehead, "This is your Cyber Safari, on Zastin's ship... I'm in space, heading back to Earth..." He rubs his forehead, and the pain seems to ease from his skull, while Nana tries to help him. "I'm- I'm alright," Rito assures, brushing her off, "I think I just had a hallucination, I think some of my memories are trying to resurface." Nana still looks worried, but Rito merely wipes away the sweat from his brow and continues forward, swiftly followed by the Devilukean girl. "Tell me more about Lala," Rito states, as Nana catches up with him, "What was she like before I met her, who was she friends with, was she always so happy?" She grows more and more concerned as she watches Rito's mood change from happy to determined, yet she knows he wants answers to these new questions.

"Lala was... complicated, she was happy, but she always got into trouble over little things, and when she invented, she went big and bold!" Nana states, smiling at distant memories, "She once made a whole zoo of robotic animals that broke loose in the castle; Momo and I were fighting that day, but when our sister needed help we both put our differences aside to do our best and work together." She crosses her arms, pausing to reflect on Lala for Rito's benefit. "Before we were born, the most contact Lala ever had with a friend on her level was also one of her prospective marriage candidates, though not always," she states, looking up at Rito as they passed more tree groves, "Ren and Run Jewel Elise are a member of an alien race from the planet Memorze, they share a body and can transform at will, so they both became friends with Lala in her youth; last I heard both of them had moved to Earth about the same time Lala declared you to be a running candidate for marriage." The memories of two people, white and green hair, a girl and a boy, with a sneeze changing things in an instant. "But before them, Lala was okay, she grew up on the tail end of a galactic war, a place where the front lines could be on your doorstep any day, when Father was battling all out to keep his only daughter at the time safe, and Mother was doing her best to keep the people united," Nana states, a slight note of bitterness in her voice, "They weren't perfect parents, of course, but Lala didn't start off socializing with anyone until Run came into the picture, Ren was just an added bonus to help develop social skills; before that, at least from what the old nurse maids tell me, Lala had been quiet, expected to be well behaved, and always obedient to Mother and Father..." Rito closes his eyes at that, and the girl in his head begins to take shape in his mind.

First it was the sorrow, the night he fled with her be pursued by those who wished to strip her of her freedom of choice, the days she struggled to learn in school when she was still new, the nights she thought he wasn't awake and she would come in whimpering before crawling into his bed, as he quickly fell into a deep sleep with her body near him. The smiles: the day she revealed she wished to marry him after finding our he had proposed to her in an old fashioned way, how she went from zeroes to one hundreds in a matter of weeks, or how he would wake up, groggy and not totally aware of his surroundings, but he would always smile seeing her worry-free form sleeping soundlessly in his bed. How he admired her aquamarine eyes, how could he forget her dazzling, breathtaking, thousand watt smile, or those lone pink locks, or the way she called his name... "Rito-kun!" she would say, " _Stop...fighting me..._ "

With a sudden snap in front of his face, Rito comes out of his daze, momentarily forgetting wherever it was that his mind had wandered after the memories of Lala began to trickle back into his thoughts. "...istening to me?" Nana huffed, putting her hands on her hips, "I said we're here!" Rito blinks away his confusion, a dazed look on his face as he takes stock of his surroundings. Looking around the area, it looked like some kind of ranch, or corral of some kind, just fenced off with a good sized barn at the far back of the area. The red drasuke was waiting patiently by the swinging door, which amazed Rito as Nana opened it and let him inside the corral. "Now, Rito, I want you to stay back behind Redwing," Nana pauses before letting him into the fenced off area, "Blackclaw is still very territorial, I have my natural strength and connection to animals to rely on, Redwing is attempting to court Blackclaw and form a pack, but you are open game in her eyes, as good as prey." Rito nods, fully awake and alert to the area now. "Redwing will be the only thing between you and her, so stay back and stay safe," Nana says as she closes the gate behind them, "I'm going to check on Blackclaw and see how cooperative she is today." Redwing gives Rito a sidelong glance as Nana enters the barn, Rito is a little nervous at the look, but Redwing turns his attention back to the entrance of the barn instead.

After a few minutes, some shouting goes on, and suddenly Nana comes flying out of the barn. And, Rito notices, she doesn't have any wings when she sails through the air and lands roughly on the ground outside the barn. A guttural, fear-inspiring roar is heard rumbling from inside the barn, and Rito watches as a massive shadow seems to drag itself out of the barn. At least a full two feet larger overall in size compared to Redwing, this massive black dino-dragon was radically different in comparison. A thinner build, most likely from being starved for so long, a smaller snout and jaw that was more like a triangle than a rectangle, its claws were sharper, yet smaller than the thicker ones Redwing sported. If Nana hadn't told him it was the same species, he wouldn't believe they were both Drasuke, though the tell-tale horns above her head did seem to indicate it, as did the scale plating going down her back. She turned her head sideways, and with a sudden realization, Rito realized she was staring him down, ignoring Redwing in the process. Suddenly the black Drasuke made to move for him, when a massive roar belted out of Redwing's mouth. The black Drasuke turned to stare down Redwing, before flaring ragged stumps from her back, with Redwing doing likewise with his normal wings. In moments the two were at each others throat, while Rito quickly made a decision.

Running over to where Nana lay on the grass, he took her pulse before confirming she was okay, and shaking her awake. "Nana, Nana can you hear me?" he hurriedly asks, glancing between the two titans battling it out, "Nana, I need you to wake up and calm Blackclaw down, she might hurt Redwing if this goes on..." Suddenly a thud is heard, as one of the two reptilian's were felled to the ground as well. Hesitating to look back, Rito regretted the fact that Blackclaw held Redwing pinned beneath her sharp claws. Narrowing her eyes at Rito, pupils turning to yellow slits as she focuses on him, she barks out a small roar, and slowly lumbers over to Rito. "Nana, nana I need you!" Rito hurriedly states, turning his back and desperately trying to wake the Devilukean girl up, "Blackclaw is gaining fast, she took down Red wing and..." Suddenly a shadow falls over Rito, causing him to gulp as shivers went down his spine. Feeling hot breath down the back of his neck, he turns around to stare straight up at another maw filled with sharp teeth and a large pink tongue, salivating as it reaches out towards his face. Closing his eyes expecting it to be painful, he was surprised when the wet tongue, roughly dragged itself over his neck and up his face, causing his hair to stand up crazily as it dragged through his hair.

Nana opens up her eyes at this point, expecting the worst as she gets up to her feet, ears still ringing from the tail whip she had gotten from Blackclaw. She blinks, rubbing her eyes as she stares at the sight before her. She gently walks forward as Blackclaw continues to lick Rito all over, causing sticky saliva to stand his hair on end. Blackclaw narrows her eyes at growls towards her, causing Nana to stop and really study her body language to determine what the Drasuke planned to do to Rito. Rito was suddenly tucked under the female Drasuke's wings with her tail curling around his body, as she noticed Redwing shake off being pinned and stand up, only to dilate his pupils to slits upon seeing Rito so close to the black deviant. The situation only grew more tense as a growl that built up in Redwing's throat came out as a fearsome roar, the lumbering giant suddenly barreling full force to snap at the half-hidden Rito. Redwing was unprepared for Blackclaw to retaliate in kind, forcing the smaller Drasuke into a stunned silence, before the female began to communicate with a mixture of chirps, clicks and soft barks. "Nana, what's going on?" Rito asked as the two Drasuke stared each other down, Nana listening intensely, "What are they saying to each other?" Whatever it was that Blackclaw had said to the smaller Redwing, it obviously satisfied him as he leveled his snout towards Rito and snorted, before trudging away towards Nana.

Nana was suddenly covering her mouth, and it soon became apparent she was becoming bright red, until poorly concealed laughter burst forth from between her fingers. "Rito..." Nana states, breathless, as Blackclaw barks at Nana, like she could understand her, "It seems she's not wanting to hurt you, in fact she's trying to prepare you for... snicker... 'mating season', since she can tell you're- 'matured'." She suddenly guffaws, to the confusion of Rito, who merely stares up at the draconian lizard, who chirps sound a bit like laughter. "I'm sorry, it seems she's thinking you're trying to woo me," Nana states, while Blackclaw snorts, rolls its massive eyes and barks in response to Nana's words, "Sorry, it seems she can smell your stress hormones as being particularly high, that your heart rate and your sweating has increased, and that your 'scent' seems to be increasing while in proximity to myself." Blackclaw lets go of Rito, and lets him wonder a bit closer to Nana now, barking. "She seems to think I'm having hormonal response to your presence as well, so she wanted to make you 'presentable', after she smelt you on me in the barn," Nana states before Blackclaw suddenly headbutts Rito in her personal space, causing Nana to renew her blushing as she pushes him off, before she crosses her arms and curls her own spade tail around her body in reflex, "A-and I'll have you k-know, you pushy lizard, I am not having a 'physical reaction' to him; so butt out you cold-blooded bird!" Blackclaw balks, but relents and turns to call out Redwing, before retiring with the other Drasuke into the private structure. Turning to Rito, mortified and still blushing, she grabs him by the sleeve and pulls him wordlessly out of the open gate and back down the road to the exit. "Sorry about that, I didn't realize she was in heat, she's all mixed up and confused right now due to hormones," Nana states, "Enough about that, lets go back before any of the nocturnal predators join us, since the sun will go down before we realize it."

After a journey of silence all the way back, it was Rito who broke the silence first, as the sun began to set. "Wow, that's amazing!" Rito states in awe at the cascade of crimson red and fiery orange, as the artificial sun begins to lower below the horizon, "Is it always this cool, the sunset, I mean." Nana stands next to Rito at the clearing of trees he was looking out from, crossing her arms as she stares with a small smile on her lips.

"It took some doing, I had to cross reference about a hundred different sunsets before I came across a select few I liked," Nana states, as she turns to look at Rito, "Everyday the sky shifts its sunsets and sunrise to reflect a couple dozen different planets, shakes it up so the creatures don't find it monotonous with it being artificially created and all that." Rito nods in appreciation before turning to smile at Nana, and finding his heart beating a little bit faster, as the sunset hits her just right and begins to highlight her eyes and face with shadows and dimming light. "You know Rito, I can't say I don't find the idea appealing," Nana suddenly says out of the blue, taking a few steps closer to Rito, "Finding you attractive I mean..." She bites her lip and closes her eyes a bit, as she trails a finger from his pectoral muscles up to his neckline. "I don't know if its all those Drasuke hormones making me hot," she says as she stares at his own features being highlighted by the stretching shadows and fiery orange light that sets his hair ablaze just so, "You know, you don't really have to leave me, not if Momo was right." She's practically speaking into his ear, as they tingle from the soft weight of her words. "Earth, it's such a cruel and savage place compared to us, compared to Deviluke, compared to here..." Nana states seductively, as she closes her eyes and stands on her tiptoes, "You know, you were her marriage candidate, and you are nice, kind, and everything I'm looking for in a man; why don't you just stay...with...me..." Rito feels his mind fogging up in a haze, as he closes his eyes in a panic, not knowing if this was real or not.

 _Rito! Stay with me!_

Opening his eyes, just as Nana tried to plant a kiss firmly on his cheeks, Rito snaps out of his daze and quickly throws his hands up to stop her. "I'm- I'm sorry Nana, but not like this, not with you now, especially if it is just chemical attraction," Rito states, as Nana opens her eyes with a pout, visibly deflating before him, "If you and I are just being messed with hormones and whatever else, I don't want to make you have regrets now, not when I don't really know you, and you don't really know me..." He trails off, as he breaks contact with her, turning his back and walking away as the sunset gives way to the darkness of twilight. "I still have questions to answer on Earth, but I'm eternally grateful for you to have answered my questions about your sister, about Lala," Rito states, as he extinguishes Nana's hope with his words, "I have to go home, I have to find out about the life I left behind, because I won't live with my regrets, not when I have the power to silence the doubt in my head, and find out about the family I left behind for two years..." He crosses his arms, before turning back to Nana with a heartbreaking, innocent smile. "I hope we can still be friends," Rito consoles, as the last of Nana's dreams are crushed beneath that singular word, "But Earth is my home, and I need answers." Nana nods at this, before composing herself with a deep breath, and smiling up at Rito.

"I'm glad you can be so sure of yourself, Rito," she says with false cheer that Rito is oblivious to, :Though, your right, I was being a bit hasty; I could never keep a brother from his sister, a son from his family." She leads him back to the doorway, and waits for him to catch up. "Thank you Rito, for being kind, for being honest," she states hiding her face as she looks away from him, "I'll- I'll catch up to you in a minute, but for now I think I forgot to do something..." Rito says nothing, unsure of whether he could say anything, and silently steps through the door. By then her tears are falling, as the ember of love she could have had with him, is extinguished by the simple truth she already knew: He still loved Her. Looking to her hand in some off hand glance of disinterest, she watched as the string of lusty red unravels from her ring finger.

 **OoOoOoO**

 _{Now}_

After a week of travel, awkward conversation with Nana, and avoiding an irate Captain Diskenth at all cost, Rito now found himself on the world of his birth. Staring up at the indigo sky, colored such by the setting sun, Rito knew he was home. Now, if only he could remember where his home was.

 _{Above Earth's Moon}_

Unable to watch him go, Nana stayed inside her Cyber Safari all day, waiting for the inevitable heartache she knew she had no right to hold. It was, in fact, the Drasuke hormones that had been influencing her thoughts that day, and Rito's too, though she found he had a much stronger conviction than she had realized. Anyway, Nana found herself being comforted by her loyal Drasuke, Redwing, who had come to comfort her in her time of need, as if sensing her distress at the male who had invaded his territory. As she relaxed in the setting sun, she suddenly felt her back rest shift, and she stood up as the lumbering titan pulled himself up, a growl stuck in his throat. She looked to see what it was that could put such an apex predator on edge, but she could only see him focusing, eyes slit in aggression, on the portal entrance into the Cyber Safari. "What's up boy?" she asked, as she delicately put her arm on his side, "What's out there?" Suddenly she feels his tail push her backwards behind him, his wings flared outward to make himself look bigger. Releasing a roar that shook the forest floor, Nana couldn't see anything behind her cover, until the rumbling in the ground became apparent.

Suddenly, vines burst out of the ground all at once, some from the portal itself, while the rest seemed to just appear, wildly thrashing and growing incredibly fast. Biting at the living, writhing mass of plants that seemed to swarm the entrance and growing, Redwing tore up chunks from the ground, before he was overrun by the vines and trapped beneath it, silencing him. "What the-" Nana states, deploying her wings and attempting to fly up and out of the plants reach, narrowly avoiding being clipped in the process, she begisn to go up, "Who the heck is doing this?" As the words were in her mouth, vines shot up and pierced her wings, skewering her in place, as they suddenly wrapped themselves tightly around her, grinding into ever crevice and crack of her body, much to her discomfort. They tightened snuggly around her and made it hard to breath, something that irritated her to now end. Before she can complain to whoever it was, whether it be Momo playing some prank, or even a revenge scheme, she was surprised at who came out of the portal. "You?" she states in confusion, before, suddenly grinning and chuckling defiantly, "You're too late, he's already starting to remember, you won't be able to-" Suddenly she stops, choked off as she looks down to see a thousand spiny thorns protruding from the vines, piercing into her skin and taking her breath away. She chokes out air, as if trying to speak, but the blood is already filling her lungs and makes it difficult to speak, as she was suddenly lowered to the ground level by the vines, a hand brought up to her cheek.

"Oh dear, why ever would I want him to forget?" the voice states, cool and compassionless, "He's the very key to everything after all, he needs to feel love and loss, he needs to regain his memories and face all of this..." A smile graces their face, a twisted sense of satisfaction coming across their features. "I need him alive, I need him to remember, and I need him to want to leave," they state, as horror comes across Nana's face, as she struggles to fight her fate, "So goodbye, Princess, and know the others will be joining you shortly..."

 **A/N: I don't own To-Love Ru, and I doubt I ever will.**

 **Apologies on such a late post, but what better way to end this year but with a new chapter, and possibly new questions! Who is this mysterious person, what do the red strings mean? Will all of our hero's love interests be dead by the end of this new story arc? All I can confirm is that this is only to get more interesting, puzzling, and mysterious as time goes on.**

 **Is Rito dead? Is this truly a new reality? Well, maybe by the end of all of this we'll have our answers!**

 **Thank you for reviewing, favoriting, following, and continued patronage of my story. Glad you've all stuck around so far!**

 **I've come a lot farther than I thought after all, 9,000 views and growing, 43 reviews, and ~16 favorites and followers. Thank you all for your continued support, and hope I hear from more of you in 2018!**

 **edit: Changed a name, thanks!**


	44. Orphaned Chances?

_**Another chapter of this new reality, shall we see where it takes us? What questions will be raised now, and what revelations will it have for my favorite new puppet? I mean, there isn't much time left after all. Rito is walking deeper and deeper and deeper into my clutches, and you can only stand by and watch. Will Rito survive the night, or will his regrets hold him back? Well, dear readers, shall we see whether this new chapter takes us into the light, or into the dark...**_

* * *

Blue hair, a concerned face, and a good bust was all Rito saw before being pulled along a confusing route of twists and turns to end up at a cake shop.

 _Sometime Earlier_

He had been wandering for an hour, hopelessly lost and confused, nothing seeming to stir any memories in his mind to direct him towards his home. As he turned another corner in vain, ending up walking down a blind alley and groaning in frustration as he hit another dead end, as the shadows grew longer and the setting sun's warmth waned to give light to a harsh and cold moon. Poetic language aside, Rito was lost in the middle of a city he didn't know, and without a place to stay he wouldn't have a very safe night either. Suddenly he hears crashing from behind him, and he turns to hear the yowl of a cat, as it skirts out from between piles of garbage spilling out of their cans. He wasn't sure if it was just the shadows getting to him, but he couldn't stand staying in this dead end alley any longer. Walking to the mouth of the alley, Rito hears the cans move again, and he regrets it as he looks back. A flash of silver, dark hair, and the cocked barrel of a gun is all he sees as the trigger is pulled, causing Rito to make an instant decision, to move or be shot and bleed to death in this alleyway.

"You shouldn't have come back here, Rito Yuuki!" his attacker shouted as Rito dashed around the corner and away from the alley, "I'm not trying to hurt you Rito, but you've put me in the middle of something that can't be ignored." Rito hears more shots fired from behind him, and he sees the walls of the buildings chip away as ricocheting bullets miss him, as if fired wildly. "The longer you stay here, when you look for answers you aren't even sure you can handle, the more you are risking it all," the voice shouts as Rito runs down the empty main street, past darkened street corners with seemingly faulty streetlights, "The longer you stay in Sainan, the more likely you risk everything Lala did for you!" The redheaded teen finds himself running through the streets, until he stumbles upon a park, at which he heads for the trees. "You can't run or hide from me, Rito, not when I know how you think," the man calls out in pursuit through the trees, "Doesn't it seem familiar at all to you, like the night you were taken from Earth, stolen by that Devilukean girl?" Rito suddenly feels a pounding in his skull his blood pressure spiking and causing pressure to build in his forehead, causing a sharp migraine that forces him to take shelter under the branches of one of the nearby trees. "I'm sure you want to go home, get your memories back, and live a long and healthy life with your childhood sweetheart," the person taunts, as they pass by the tree Rito was currently pressing himself to, "I'm sure Celine would be happy to see her 'Papa' again, and I know Mikan would give anything just to know you were alive..." Rito stills as the names ring in his ears, echoing around in the deepest corners of his mind.

A bouncing, vibrant toddler with green hair and a pink flower resting like a hat on her head. The piercing yellow eyes of his sarcastic sister, barely a teenager when he left her, a feisty brunette who had a soft spot for her 'Onii-chan' even if she didn't admit it to herself. He doesn't know how he could have ever forgotten them, and he cherishes the faces he could put to the voices, the ghosts of memory that taunted him back in his botanical prison. Rito remembers how she was carelessly she treated him whenever she found Lala in his bed, yet still she steadfastly got up, cooked breakfast for them all, and continued to help out around the house despite their absentee parents. Now that he knew all of this he wouldn't even be able to use this knowledge, not with this bullet crazy maniac after him wanting him dead, despite all appearances otherwise. Deciding to risk his luck, Rito crept through the underbrush away from his attacker and back towards the way he had ran through. He had just left the tree embankment running for his life before daring to look back, when he had the misfortune to stumble into someone, toppling them over and into a heap on pavement, dirt, and grass.

Feeling something squishy beneath his hands, and groaning in realization that he was a dead man either way, Rito quickly got up to help whatever poor, unfortunate soul it was that he had stumbled into. She looked up at him, having to part her hair that had messily ended up covering her face in the tangled fall, and he noticed the puzzled expression on her face right before it turned into righteous anger. "What the hell, pervert!" she angrily yelled, "Do you just tackle young women going home from work, or are you just another opportunist?" Not really having the time to explain himself, and hoping he wasn't heard by the guy in the park, he helped the woman to her feet while miming her to be quiet. "What, you don't want me to call the cops out on you, groper?" she angrily yells, her voice rising despite his unheard protests, "Someone, help me, police, we've got a groper on-!" Desperate to shut her up, Rito covers her mouth as she protests with muffled yelps through his hand.

If she didn't see the rising panic, the indecision on his face yet, when she realized he was looking around, especially towards the park, the girl quieted down and Rito in turn removed his hand from her mouth. "Are you in trouble?" she asks, "Did something happen, are you running from someone?" Suddenly, as if a switch was flipped, the girl in turn grabbed Rito by the hand and roughly began to pull him down the paved walkway and back into the city. "Come on, if you're in trouble, I have a place we can go and calm down," she states, pulling Rito behind her, blue hair whipping in the wind, "We can collect our thoughts, I can hear your story, and decide if the cops need to be involved or not, ok?" Despite phrasing that as a question, Rito took it as the girl demanding that he follow her, not that her iron grip left him any choice. So despite a crazy man after him and an equally crazy woman pulling him away from danger, Rito chose to follow the leader and ended up safely within the dining area of a western style pastry shop.

The woman had ordered him to stay seated at the table, and she would be back with some tea and some of the day's leftovers they had stored in the back for the employee's. He really didn't want to impose, but the girl had insisted on coming to the cake shop, pulling out her key from her purse, and entering after hours. Rito would feel bad if he got the woman in trouble, but the girl seem unconcerned as she came back with a piping hot kettle of tea and a plate of cookies that to Rito, looked like heaven and tasted like it, since it was the only thing he had ate at all since he had been dropped back off to Earth. Sighing, the girl served him a cup of tea before pouring herself a glass, then sitting down, she began to feel around her scalp. Rito looked in curiosity at her, and then widened his eyes when the very impressive wig detached from her head and revealed, not blue locks, but dark ebony hair nestled underneath the false headpiece. She stared up at him in annoyance as he stared back, raising an eyebrow at him. "What, never seen a wig before?" she asks sarcastically, "The owners had a Cosplay day today, I dressed up as Professor from Courageous Superman Grand Braver?" At Rito's blank stare, the girl set her wig aside and stared him face to face in all of her seriousness. "You know, the mecha anime that plays on weekdays after Magical Kyouko?" she states, "Girl pilots team up with energy beings inhabiting giant robots, beating the snot out of alien invaders from the Machine Empire?"

Rito didn't break his blank stare as he took another bite of a delicious cookie. "I'm afraid I haven't been in touch with much 'anime' for the past couple of years, a lot has changed since I... moved back into Sainan," Rito answers as cryptically as possible, so the girl didn't think he was any nuttier than she already thought, "I get the gist though, so thank you for the interesting synopsis; when I get a place to stay, I might just look it up on television..." While he says the last part a bit more bitterly than he means it to be, the girl picks up on the fact he mentioned he had no home.

"No place to stay, running from the park in the middle of the night, I'm guessing someone wasn't too happy to have you sleeping out under the stars?" she prods, "It wouldn't surprise me, there are places I'm sure you could have gone to, family or something, before you were forced to sleep under the stars; there are laws in place for these sorts of things..." He doesn't know whether to roll his eyes or not, so instead he plasters a smile on his face and continues to talk to her.

"You could say they weren't happy about me returning to town, I was being shot at, but they weren't intended to be lethal," Rito states, crossing his arms and resting his head on the table on top of them, "I think..." He looks up at her, and realizes that despite her offering him food and a helping hand, he still didn't know her name. He straightens up and smiles, extending a hand towards her. "In all this fuss I forgot to get the name of my savior, and to introduce myself," Rito states as normal as possible, "Rito, Rito Yuuki; just who might you be, miss?" The woman stares at his hand for barely a second before she reacts to his name, looking up at him in surprise, before scowling and staring him straight down. He didn't even see the hand move, even less feel it make contact with his cheek, but the stinging afterglow of a fresh slap to his face caused him discomfort as he put his hand to the affected area.

"Rito Yuuki!" she cries out in anger, "Don't you dare pretend to be that boy; though I have half a mind to believe your story as perverted a man child you are!" He really doesn't know what set her off, but he sees she is still talking to him. "I'll have you know that Rito Yuuki went missing in his first year of high school, near the end of the term; his sister searched for him for months before giving up midway through last December," the girl states, making a fist on the table and rattling the cookies and the tea from the force, "His posters are still plastered all up over Sainan, so if you expect me to believe you're Rito Yuuki, you have better chances of making me believe that it really was aliens that took Him!" She crosses her arms and silently fumes at him, while Rito nervously tries to figure out what to say to her. "Well, what do you have to say for yourself, troublemaker?" she asks, "Rito Yuuki was my friend, even if he did cause me too much trouble in High School when I was head of the disciplinary committee!" At that comment Rito's eyes widened, as a faint blip of a memory and recognition crosses through the annals of his mind. Before he can even rack his brain as to what the memory entailed, he began to feel extremely tired. Whether it was the shock of being shot at, the adrenaline crash now that he was calming down, or the fact that he was regaining more of his memories, Rito tipped sideways and mercifully blacked out before his head hit the tiled floor of the Stray Cats Patisserie.

* * *

 _The room was dark, and Rito had had... someone with him, and then there was a power outage. He had tripped, and fallen over onto the person, as they fell onto the bed in his room. "Oops..." he had said out loud, though as he tried to say their name, it sounded like static in his ears, "S-sorry, Kotshfds." Rito froze as he noticed the shirt that was a size too large for her,popped a button and barely covered the areola, not to mention the fact her still dripping, wet body was soaking water into the material that barely covered her crotch. Hazel eyes stared up at him in confusion, as if waiting for him to make his move. She pouts, closing her eyes seeing him not making a move, and Rito feels the flames of embarrassment trail up his cheeks and close up his throat._

 _She opens her eyes again and shyly looks up at him from under his arms. "I...I...I hate shameless people," Kotfhawa admits to him, "I've hated them ever since I was little." She looks downcast, before bashfully looking back up at him. "It would be those shameless boys, of course, who would flip girl's skirts, disrupt the class morals," she says, "I would always protect the weak girls and confront the boys." She glances away and blushes, before turning back to face Rito with renewed courage. "But... it's normal for boys to do shameless things..." Kokegvwa says, "Being shameless doesn't mean that they're completely bad; I've begun to understand this recently..." She grasps the back of his neck, keeping him from moving. "If...IF...," Kotegawa states, looking passionately up at Rito with hopeful eyes, "...you promise to never do anything shameless with any other girl...th-then I will..." Before she can do anything, before she can draw him in with those luscious lips, something stops Rito from going any further. "Do you regret it?" she asks, as she watches him pull away, before smiling, "No, I can see your heart doesn't." In his moment of indecision, Yui pulled him down and planted a kiss firmly on his lips, surprising Rito greatly._

 _"Wa- wait, this didn't happen like this..." Rito states, as he breaks free of Kotegawa's hold, then backs up and away from the compromising situation, "Mikan, Nana, and Lala were supposed to interrupt us..." He looks down at his hands, seeing them shake, before he clenches them into fists. "This shouldn't even be possible, I shouldn't even be remembering this," Rito states in confusion, "I wasn't here, I never was in this position, because Momo stole me away, and Lala... Lala..." He looks up, and finds Kotegawa is gone, the room and scene changed to a bed, satin sheets spilling through the thin veil hiding a voluptuous form with hair cascading down her back translucent, pink curtains barely concealing the womanly figure. Rito sees eyes of aquamarine through the material, staring straight at him, as she smiles and curls her finger at him, motioning for him to approach. He watches through the veil as she removes the satin robe, exposing her most intimate parts, her red tail snaking through the veil and wrapping around his arm as he goes to pull the curtain aside, stopping him by resting its spade tip in his open palms. Gathering it in both of his palms, he stares at the pulsing, beating tip that rests in his hands, the most sensual part of her body given to him freely, showing just how much she truly loved him. He smiled, feeling the rhythmic beating in his hands, closing his eyes as he feels the beat resonate with his own heart, echoing through his bones, up his arms and into his ribcage._

 _T hump. Thump. Ba-Bump. Thump. Thump. Ba-Bump._

* * *

Reality crashing back in on him, Rito gasps awake from the dream, sweating underneath layers of sheets and blankets piled on top of him. He feels a cool washcloth on his forehead, and he throws the offensive thing off of him. Rito sees that this isn't the front of the pastry shop, nor is this anywhere he thinks he had ever been before. In fact, it looks much like a normal room, baring the few female idols on the walls, games posters, and collection of manga and anime in one of the nearby cupboards. Though, this being Japan, that latter one shouldn't seem as unusual as it feels to him. Getting up and finding out he was lacking a shirt, Rito was surprised that he was still wearing his pants and undergarments that Nana had provided for him. Scrounging through some drawers, as impolite as it seemed, Rito found some things that would fit him, then folded them up neatly, and quietly sneaked out of the room looking for the bathroom, or a shower. As he walked into the kitchen, the sound of sizzling meat and smell of breakfast food surprised him, and he found a the woman he had stumbled upon last night working away to create something to him that looked like a veritable feast of food.

As he slowly went to walk away from her, leaving her undisturbed, she turns and looks momentarily shocked, before shaking her head clear and going back to cooking. "Bathroom and shower are two doors down to your right, lock the door behind you," she commands, more than suggests, "My brother is coming over sometime this morning to get some more of his stuff from the house, and my parents are gone to work for the day already, so I plan to get you fed and make yourself scarce before the realize I snuck a boy into my room last night." He almost wants to comment out of surprise at finding out that room was hers, but chooses to bite his tongue. She then looks up at him, then blushes as she catches up with what she said. "No, I mean, my brother's room!" she states, covering her face and groaning into her hands, "I had you in my room, but you had a fever and I can't risk getting sick, so I moved you into my brother's room since he had been staying over at a friend's house last night... that room was his, not mine." Nodding in response, Rito politely thanked her, then went to do his morning routine.

By the time he is back, breakfast is ready and waiting at the table, with Rito sitting down across from the woman. She offers him a cup for tea, then retrieves a kettle from the kitchen and pours some into it, before setting the tea pot down. "Thank you for the food," Rito states smiling, he takes a sip of the warm liquid and sighs in satisfaction, taking a bite of the breakfast she had made for him, "You know, Kotegawa, you make really good food; thanks again for letting me stay over the night in Yuu's room." As he takes another bite of food, he hears utensils fall to the table, so he glances up to see what was wrong with her. Yui is staring him down, slightly shaking in her one hand as she stares intently across the table at Rito.

"Wh- how do you know that?" Yui states, putting her hand down and forgetting her food, "I- I never told you my name, how do you know that..." Rito raises his eyes in confusion, since he always knew that it was- A look of confusion crosses his face, as he knits his brow together as to when it was, exactly, that he remembers Yui Kotegawa telling him her name. "Are you- are you stalking me?" Yui asks out of panic, causing Rito throw his head up in surprise at her accusations, "Were- were you really running from somebody last night, or where you just hoping to get in my-" Rito stops her right there, throwing his hands up in panic and embarrassment.

"NO! No, I told you last night Kotegawa, I'm Rito Yuuki, I went to high school with you at Sainan High!" he exclaims, as the words just come tumbling out of him, "I was friend's with Kenichi Saruyama, I was classmates with Haruna, Risa, and Mio!" He is panting as he slows his heartbeat down, before becoming confused once more. Rito knew he shouldn't know any of those names, yet they came out of his mouth like they were everyday things he should know. "I don't- I don't know how I knew that," he states, looking back up at Yui, "I- I've had amnesia for the past two years, someone- someone brought me someplace they thought was safe, and I only just begun to remember my past, who I am." She looks unconvinced, and Rito frustratingly puts a hand to his head and forces himself not to cry while she disapprovingly stares at him. "Kotegawa, I don't know how you and I were around each other, but I just arrived in Sainan last night, trying desperately to rediscover what I forgot before some accident I had two years ago," he cries out in anguish, "I get lost in the city, get attacked by someone threatening me to leave, and I stumble into you, a woman I didn't even remember last night, and today after a very distressing dream, I somehow remember you and a bunch of other names to people I can't put faces to, yet." He slams his hands on the table, and stares defiantly right back into a smoldering Yui Kotegawa. "I don't expect you to understand, Kotegawa, but the past few weeks have been the most physically draining, emotionally challenging, and frustrating few weeks I've been having," Rito states, blowing up in her face, "I'm sorry I've dragged you into this, but all I've been trying to do is find my house, my sister, and my daughter!"

After all of that, Rito took a deep breath, and calmed down enough to face Yui again with a sheepish smile. What he saw was her blushing red, shocked face, her eyes full of surprise as she wordlessly mouthed sounds, looking more like a gaping fish. "D-d-d-daughter!" He could practically see the steam coming out of her head as she turned bright red, "I d-d-d-didn't know you had a d-daughter, R-rito!" She gulps, and then takes a sip of tea as calmly as possible, betraying the shock Rito had just witnessed. "Very well, it-it seems you are in fact who you claim to be," she says, eyes downcast as she coughs into her hand out of embarrassment, "I don't know exactly where your house is, as I've never been there personally after all, but I know Mikan and Celine frequently visit Mikado Sensei's house for some kind of after school job, or something; she's taken it up ever since you disappeared." Eyes brightening at the information, Rito smiles gratefully at Yui, before turning to his food and chowing down on it as fast as he could. "Rito, wait, don't eat that fast!" she cries out in surprise, "You'll choke!" He takes a chugs the rest of his tea, before setting the cup down and getting up, smiling at Yui once more.

"Thank you Kotegawa, I can't tell you how much I owe you for this!" Rito states, as he grabs his shoes from the front door and slips them on, "I'll make it up to you, someday, somehow!" Before he can get out the door, though, Yui is up and grabbing his arm, keeping him from leaving. Rito turns back to look at her, and he can't see her face beneath the curtain of her bangs, and he can't stand to see the pout on her lips either.

"Don't be stupid again, okay Rito?" she states, not looking at him, "Don't you go disappearing after coming back all these years later, okay?" She looks up at him, fiery determination on her face, a smile gracing her face now. "Go find Mikan, and say hi to Celine for me," Yui states, as she turns to grab something from her room, before handing him a wrapped package, "Give this to them when you see Celine, I bought her a new book to read after all." She smiles, and Rito nods, though he stays when he sees a look of hesitation cross her face. "Do you regret it Rito, being gone for all these years and just showing up on people's doorsteps like this?" She asks, and Rito feels it like a punch to his gut at the memory, "Ah, who am I to complain though, I don't have any regrets, and neither should you Rito!" That look of confidence has returned to her face, and she's smiling happily again. "You may not believe it, but Kenichi and I have been going out; he really is mature when he acts like it, and he'll be ecstatic to know you're back Rito," she states, and it warms Rito's heart to know he hadn't hurt her as deeply as he thought, "So make sure, whatever is going on, you stay alive Rito; I don't think any of us could stand to lose you again!" Rito smiles, then hugs Yui, who squeaks in surprise, but accepts it with a slight blush. "You idiot," she says, "I have a boyfriend." Rito lets go and smiles.

"I know," he says impishly, smiling from ear to ear, "I hope to meet him and remember all the fun times we had together too!" He opens the door to streaming sunlight, and escapes down the walkway back into the city. Yui watches him as he leaves, and casually observes the tattered, rusty-red string that had been attached to her ring finger finally snap and disappear, while the new, stronger, crimson string remained. She had found someone else to love, after all.

* * *

 **A/N: I don't know if any of you noticed, but I do not own To-Love Ru. Nor do I own Mayoi Neko Overrun.**

 **Has anyone noticed the subtle references I'm making yet, or have I not left enough clues to light the end path. Maybe you could even deduce how many chapters I have left within this story arc. Oh well, I hope you guys enjoyed it!**

 **First new chapter of 2018! Can't believe we made it to a new year! Updates may be slowing down from me, so don't be worried if I don't update for a while, though hopefully I plan to post something before February. To my two favorite reviewers, hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and that it lives up to your expectations!**

 **And to my other readers, I hope with a new year, you may have the opportunity to review my work and leave a comment! Thanks again everyone, and have a happy start to a new year.**

 **Edit: Cleaning up grammer and spelling mistakes. No new chapter yet.**


	45. Magical Gardener Golden Lightning Reveal

**A/N: Edit: No own it, sayith I.**

 **Due to the nature of this upcoming chapter, I regret to inform you that all mentions of fluffy bunnies have been replaced with scenes of exaggerated imagery featuring (honestly not that)** **graphic depictions of bodily harm to our favorite hero. Thankfully it is less than a paragraph, so skip it if you must! Edit: Also non-intended, maybe thought of as, harshness on/to a certain love interest.**

 _ **Why should they skip it, dear Author, when it holds such interesting implications? Since it seems I haven't drawn their attention yet, you force me out into the open? Sure, they may have assumed those notes in the beginning of the last few chapters were in the same bold characters as you write your notes, but surely they must have notices the slight nuances of italics altering the wording? Could they really have assumed that I, was You? No, no, they probably questioned why you wrote such third person narrative, why I referred to Rito as my 'Puppet', and why their questions have only been growing more and more. Then again they'll only be slightly sated this evening, I suppose, such delicious confusion and chaos will ensue. I hope you are prepared, dear readers, for the ride of a lifetime!**_

OoOoOoO

 _Downtown Sainan_

Green grass, blue sky, and a shining sun was under his feet, above his head, and on his back, as he ran to his objective. The morning was new, and full of hope for Rito as he ran towards Mikado Sensei's house, out of some unknown instinct. He didn't know how he knew where it was yet he had begun to remember things slowly, gaining clarity the more he immersed himself in this strange city called Sainan. Yet Yui Kotegawa had filled him with a sense of relief, resolving him of some form of guilt he must have felt for having helped him escape whoever it was that had been after him last night. Now he knew where Mikan, his beautiful, darling younger sister with a fiery, scolding temperament and level head, too mature for a girl of her age, and his young, cheerful alien daughter, once a massive alien plant, now a young child plant-human hybrid that adored him as her 'Papa'.

Running over pavement through streets of traffic and crowds of people, he knew he was nearing Ryoko Mikado's clinic and cut through a back alley, when all of a sudden he saw her. Unable to stop himself and having noticed her too late, he rammed full force into the green haired girl that had walked into his path as he was exiting the alleyway, at full sprint. He quickly tried to readjust as he fell, hitting the ground with full force on his back as he tried to protect the girl he had knocked off of her feet.

Groaning as he came to he noticed the girl had her eyes closed, light green hair swaying over the horns in the wind, and the most skimpy, revealing black outfit on her that instantly caused him to blush upon seeing it. He took notice that the skimpy armor barely covered her body, a white cloak with purple interior connected to pauldrons, a black choker with a red jewel in its center, bracers that went from her wrist up to silver rings that ended at her elbow. There was something that looked like a corset that took midriff to a whole new level, as it barely started at her navel, wrapped around her back yet was open in the space between her gorgeous breasts, which in turn were barely concealed, poorly even, by some bony looking things that looked like claws, while the skimpiest bikini was designed to match that and barely conceal her private areas with similar bony materials, while matching, navy thigh-high boots covered her feet. A few feet away, a staff with a cracked red orb laid on the ground, discarded and forgotten when it had fallen out of the girls grasp upon impact. ' _Run_ ,' he thought, as he averted his eyes, ' _But I can't just leave her...'_ He looked around, and felt his face alight in flame as he barely caught sight of an annoyed looking girl staring down at him in a less skimpy, but equally confusing magical girl outfit. ' _Oh, magical girl Kyouko,_ ' Rito thinks, as he feels the cool relieving wind blow upon his face after the warm flames were vanquished, ' _That's right, it was Lala's favorite..._ ' His head hit the ground before he could think anymore.

The poor guy just couldn't catch a break, could he?

* * *

Waking up to harsh sunlight and a face full of gauzy, white cloth, Rito blinked as the world came spinning back into place. Sitting up straight and gasping for air, he feels something unroll off of his face and hit the ground. Looking down, he sees a roll of medical gauze having fallen off as he sat up. Feeling the roll of gauze around his neck, he removes it from around his neck and discards it, looking around the room he's found himself in for any clue as to where he was. "Ah, I see my patient has- oh?" a new voice interjects, as Rito turns to see a red headed, voluptuous woman walk into the room, "Up and about already, quite unexpected for someone who got into a pyrotechnics accident." Rito has a momentary look of confusion on his face, as he stares up into those familiar green eyes.

"But...uhm, Doctor, Nurse, Ma'am, Miss...uhm," Rito mumbles, as he blushes and looks down at his feet, having turned his body off of the table he had been sitting on, "Wasn't that girl- didn't she do this?" The woman looks at Rito with a puzzled expression, as she takes a seat in a rolling chair nearby a desk in the room.

"I'm sorry, I don't quite get what you mean," she says, putting a finger to her lip and giving off an air of innocence about her, "You had stumbled into the middle of the new episode of 'Magical Girl Kyoko' they were filming down town, an accident no doubt that was due to the set department not blocking off all of the alleyways; a minor oversight you see." She smiles, grabbing a clipboard from her desk and clicking a pen. "The woman you ran into, Miss Jewelria, isn't planning on pressing any charges, so you're ok in that department," she states, looking up from the clipboard and putting the pen to the paper, "But since this was an accident regarding poor handling of Miss Kirisaki's pyrotechnic equipment, we need to get your information for insurance purposes." She circles a few things, then turns the clipboard around to show Rito what it says. "After we get your name, your address, and a bunch of other medical related data," she states, "The studio needs you to sign some liability waivers, a few non-disclosure agreements, all technical stuff the studio needs to make sure you can't sue them for malpractice in court, minor incident, and the like." Rito blinks, staring hard at the woman in front of him trying to wrack his brain for anything as to why she looked so familiar.

"Mikado- Mikado Sensei!" Rito shouts in recognition, suddenly grinning while simultaneously startling the red headed alien doctor, "It's me, Rito Yuuki, Lala's fiance!" Ryoko merely raises an eyebrow at that, and she gives him a once over. Rito widens his eyes as he replays everything he had just gone through, and suddenly the girl breathing fire onto him made a heck of a whole lot more sense. "That wasn't pyrotechnic malfunctions either, that was Kyouko using her powers, wasn't it?" he states in awe, as he remembers the bespectacled girl who had become friends with that green girl, which caused Rito pause, "If that was Kyouko who hurt me, then that means..." He puts his hands to his head and groans into his palms, while Mikado watches in confusion at the display. "That was Run, wasn't it..." Rito groans, as he drags his hands over his distressed face, "I hated it when she was all over me, now I grope her on accident and she probably doesn't even remember me." Suddenly Rito shot up and looked directly into Mikado Sensei's eyes. "Please don't tell me Ren was still in there!" he gargles out, "Oh, please don't tell me Ren saw that, that meathead wouldn't let me live down whatever I did to his sister!" Mikado steps up to Rito, having left her clipboard behind, placing her hands stiffly on each side of Rito and forcing him to focus on her.

"Rito Yuuki, take a breath, count to five, do whatever it is you need to calm down, and speak coherent sentences to me," she orders, before sighing and closing her eyes, "Of course I get the kid with burns and heat stroke..." She rubs her forehead and goes to sit back down. "Now, Rito is it?" she says, putting her pen to her mouth and looking at him in concern, "I don't know why it is you think Miss Kirisaki has 'powers' or how you know Ren and Run Elsie Jewelria, but I assure you that this was all pyrotechnical mishaps..." Mikado sets down the clipboard and crosses her arms, staring Rito down with a look of pity. "You might have been a bit of a concussion if the pyrotechnics are causing you to be this delirious," Ryoko says, as she turns to scribble something down on the paper, "But I can assure you, there are no powers, so let's focus on getting your home address and maybe reevaluating what sort of damage was done besides just physical..." She scribbles some notes down, while Rito takes a deep breath and a bit of a gamble.

"Kyouko is half Flamian, Ren and Run are both from Memorze, Mikado Sensei, and they shared a body until they both matured; hopefully sometime this year if my guess is right," Rito states, causing Ryoko to freeze in mid stroke of her pen, "They are both extraterrestrial beings, along with you, if the pointed ears are anything to go by, or whatever miracle space drug you used to fix whatever burns I had gotten when I got blasted by Kyouko's flames, I reckon." Mikado swivels on her chair and neutral stares at Rito. "My name is Rito Yuuki, Class 1-A of Sainan High School, or at least I was two years ago, Sensei," Rito states soberly, "I was engaged to be married to Lala Satalin Deviluke, I know I was supposed to complete some sort of test, when things went south and the whole world got memory wiped of my presence by Devilukean technology, Sensei..." He stands up and walks over to where Mikado was sitting, before falling to his knees, resting his forehead on her lap while placing his white-knuckled hands in a pleading manor. "Mikado Sensei, I'm begging you for help," he states, crying and letting tears flow as the stunned alien doctor just watches, "I f- _forgot_ everything about who I w-was, and h-have barely begun getting my m-memories back." She sets a hand on the sobbing Rito's back, as he cries and tries to choke out words between them. "I forgot my S-sister, I forgot Celine, I forgot Mama and Papa," he cries, "I just want a- _answers_ Sensei, and you're the only one who can h-help me; Ryoko, _please_..."

For everything in Ryoko Mikado's life that she had seen, from the worst and the best of the galaxy, from the slums to the crystal geysers and all its highlights, the scene of the broken boy before her was something she had witnessed only once before, far detached from this place. She puts a hand on his head and ruffles his hair, as a smile graces her face. "Ok, Rito Yuuki, if that really is who you are, then I will help you," she states, as Rito looks up all snotty, red, puffy eyes, and tears staining his face, "I think I can convince Mikan to come down here, she'll no doubt bring Celine with her, and I think I can help you with your memory, but my lab is on the other side of town, and Run-" Suddenly Mikado blanches and widens her eyes, looking up at the door she had entered from. "Oh, oh no, I forgot about Run and Kyouko!" she states, before she begins to cover her mouth and stifle a giggle, "I- I forgot Run wanted compensation; oh dear, I think you'll have to wait for a bit, and humor her Rito." He looks up in confusion at her words, but suddenly the door slams open, and light streams in from behind them. Rito turns to see a fuming Run being held back by Kyouko, and only barely at that, as she stomps into the room in indignation.

"You!" she yells, pointing to Rito who at this point had separated himself from Mikado and stood up looking in confusion at his accuser, "You ruined the my scepter, it has a crack running all the way through it and I demand recompense!" She stands there fuming, as Kyouko pulls back and sheepishly rubs her head, looking at Rito in embarrassment. "I expect either monetary compensation, or something else you can offer me, you uncultured fanboy," she huffs dismissive towards Rito, "Honestly, how did you manage to sneak past security and grope me, you pig!" He can see she is blushing at this, which causes Rito extreme embarrassment at having caused them both such trouble. Ryoko waved her goodbyes at this part, and Rito found himself wanting to hopelessly follow after her and get out of whatever it was that Run had planned for him. "Well, are you going to at least say you're are sorry?" she demands, suddenly in Rito's face, "I'm glad Kyouko got a piece of you, but I was hit by a whale and was unconscious, so either I get some kind of physical repayment, or you cough up the cash to have the prop department replace my staff!" Rito steps back, while Kirisaki steps in front of Run to keep end her tirade.

"I'm sorry about Run, I'm sorry about all of this, uhm, sir, this section of the city was reported to be blocked off for every way for quite a few streets," the black haired alien hybrid states with an awkward smile, "But, uhm, the producer and director do want you to pay for the property damage, but, uhm, they did offer a way for you to pay for the damages, if you're up to it..." Rito looks up to her, then licks his lips and weighs his options, looking between Kirisaki and Run.

OoOoOoOoO

"I didn't sign up for this!" Rito complained, as he left the costume tent, dressed in an outfit that reminded him of what he wore when Nana and Momo trapped everyone in that virtual reality, though this one came with pauldrons of white, matching the stark white/cream cape that trailed down his back and rounded off at the end. To add to the indignity of it all, he was given a white with gold trim domino mask, and told to go to the makeup tent where they would apply a sealant that would make the item stick and mold it to his face. He was also told they would have something to complete the whole ensemble once he was done with all that. Sighing as he went through an hour of beautification, with Run emphatically enjoying it all, reveling in his misery as they applied layers of make up to him, before applying the mask and forcing him to stay still as it hardened to his face. Finally he was done with all of that, and told to take himself to the set, where he would be given orders to stand and act out his part.

It seemed that Rito's accident had given the writer and director a shared vision, one that had inspired them to offer him a silent part as a backdrop character for this episode, in compensation for the cracked staff. In fact, the staff had been what inspired them to create Rito's character, who was now supposed to be imbued with magical power from the staff after being exposed to backlash from Run's character, having collided with her and causing the accident. And so Magical Gardener was born, and Rito was playing the part. He wasn't sure what it would be, of course, but anything else was worth the time he wasted compared to the untold monetary cost using money he didn't have. And so he was handed a floppy wizard hat of the same off white/cream as the cape and mask, and told to stand in a spot and smile when they pointed at him. Rito was embarrassed beyond belief, but at least he wasn't exactly expected to do anything. "Oh, and here kid, keep this for your scene and everything," one of the men working with props states, handing him a rusty looking watering can, "Supposed tah' do somethin' 'bout purifying, or somethin' like that..." Rito looks on in confusion at this newly added part, and finds himself alone when people suddenly vacate the set.

"Ok, people, let's get those cameras rolling!" the director states, "Ready, set, action!" Rito watches as Run and Kyouko transform into new people before his eyes, as they suddenly get serious during the shoot. He watches as Kyouto and Run face off against a few mooks, grunts, and minions, before being surrounded by a massive amount of hired thugs and cornered just under where Rito is supposed to appear. Leaning forward, he tries to hear what they were saying so he could make his cue.

"Ah, ha, ha, ha, so Magical Kyouko, it seems we've cornered you at last!" the head mook states, a ruby circlet on his head, "I, the blazing Mind Master, will finally be able to return to Lord Flambeau's good graces!" Cackling, the balding ban with a cliche mustache and crooked, pointy nose levels his sharp, black eyes at Kyouko. "Now, my minions, attack that girl and strip her of her items of power," he orders, ruby circlet glowing in the light, "But remember, this is a kid's show!" Before they can even do anything, a sudden wall of flame erupts between Mind Master's minions, and the cowering forms of the two magical girls.

"Wow, Kyouko, I didn't know you could do that!" Run states in amazement, as she looks to her friend, who is equally full of awe and confusion. She turns to the scantily clad Run, and shrugs in confusion.

"If I did do that, don't you think I would have done it earlier?" she states more than asks, "I don't know who did that, but they sure as heck must be as powerful as me with control over fire!" Rito watches as a thin piece of metal is used to imitate the rumble of thunder, while smoke machine suddenly spurt out thick billows of black smoke that burns even Rito's nostrils at his height.

"Ah ha, as if Magical Kyouko could have even an inkling of the power filled blood that courses through my veins," a sudden newcomer states, blonde hair pulled back in a pony tail, creepy red Oni mask over his face, and wearing a black shirt and slacks, "The powerful archmage of Tir-Nan-Og, the Demon Lord himself, Lord Charden Flambeau!" While his eyes could not be seen through the mask, the obvious mesh eye covers allowed him to observe the others, as he appears in the place where the wall of flames had suddenly erupted. "Though you have an ounce of so-called 'witches blood' in you Magical Kyouko, I see you for what you truly are meant to be," he turns back to the horde of thugs behind him, and gestures, "Be gone, you are of no use to me now that my purpose has been achieved, Mind Master, you will burn if you touch even a hair on her head; so leave while you can." At that, horror stricken along with the rest of the extras, Mind Master and the other actors run away and out of the camera's view. Rito watches as they pan back to show Lord Flambeau face off in front of a now determined Kyouko and a confused Run.

"Lord Flambeau, but you're not supposed to be here?" Run attests, "The shores of Tir-Nan-Og are supposed to be closed off to prevent the Fae from returning here!" Run points her cracked scepter forward, and raises it to defend herself. "Kyouko, whatever we do here, don't let him touch you," Run states, "If his power is as strong as he says, he may even melt the Magical Girl with a Burning Heart." At that the man removes his mask, revealing a handsome face framed by blond hair.

"Hubbah, hubbah, who cares about that; he could give ol' what-his-name beauty tips," she says, her eyes suddenly turning to hearts as she grips her own scepter tighter, drooling just a bit, "This hunk can teach me fire magic any day!" The man smiles at her, looking up with a confident smirk at her and Run.

"Well, that may be true, normally, Metallic Blue-kun, I'm afraid if the Fae are to ever get a foothold back into this reality, escape through the Devil's Triangle, there is something we must take from you!" he announces, as he suddenly summons a whip of flame, casting it toward Run, who blocks it with her staff, "Thank you, Blue-kun, for giving me exactly what I wanted, aha ha ha!" Pulling back, the non-singed scepter is yanked free of Run's hands, and Lord Flambeau holds it triumphantly above his head. "Finally, the only power that could ever had stopped us is mine!" he crows triumphant, "The power Golden Lightening that could tame even a demon Lord's flame, is mine, all...mine?" He holds up the broken staff, and stares in utter confusion as the light bends within the once pristine orb, to reveal it all but shattered in its hold. "No, the power, where is the power?" the Demon Lord cries out, holding it up before screaming out in rage, directing it toward Run and Kyouko, "You, traitor, you, little 'witch', where is the sacred power of the Golden Lightening?" He growls before lighting the scepter on fire in his hand, reducing it to ash as he discards it on the ground, menacingly steps forward towards the girls. "Give it to me!" he demands, "Show me where you have hidden the power of the Golden Lightening!" At this, Rito watches as Run and Kyouko talk among themselves.

"That boy in the alley!" Kyouko states in exclamation towards Run, "When he collided with you while you were casting that spell, could this 'Golden Lightening' have been absorbed by him?" She suddenly sends a stream of flame towards the demon lord, before dodging his own attack.

"That pervert?" Run states not to jokingly, with emotion that Rito believes isn't acting, "He's just some background character, he's of no importance at all!" She angrily points towards Flambeau, giving him the stink eye and sticking her tongue out at him. "This brimstone-smelling brat just won't accept his precious 'golden lightening' isn't where he thought it was," Run taunts, before dodging a blast of fire, "Guess it means we have something to find, if we ever want to halt the progression of the Fae King's armies on Earth!" Suddenly she dodges another blast of fire, and finds herself running and stumbling into Kyouto. "Ahh," she cires, as both girls fall to the ground in a heap, as the menacing Lord Flambeau stands over them, "Then again, a dose of power that could quench a Demon Lord's flames wouldn't hurt right now... heh he..." Rito took that as his cue, and held up his rusty looking watering can.

Suddenly the watering can began to burn in Rito's hand, and he nearly cried out in pain as the searing heat focused on the ring finger in his left hand, before an unearthly, golden glow began to outshine the sun. Though it was hard to focus on, Rito could see in the hazy light, instead of an rusty, iron can, was a gleaming, golden watering device, capable of quenching the unquenchable. before he could stop himself, words left his mouth as if flowing naturally. "Ancient Technique: _Florists Golden Watering Can!_ " he shouts, "Let the Demon Lord take a little taste of holy water!" suddenly water began to spray out of the can like it was a hose, raining down on the unsuspecting figures below, quenching both Kyouko's and the Demon Lord's flames, while ruining their costumes. Run squealed under the cold water, while Kyouko embarrassingly covered herself up with her cape to keep her undergarments from showing through.

"Cut, cut!" the Director yells, as the camera's pan down and break through Rito's mental block, "Great work kid, don't know how the special effects crew got that stunt to work, but can ya' turn it off now before it ruins the equipment!" Rito is suddenly staring at the watering can, still glowing and spewing out water in buckets, before he panics and tries to cover the spout, realizing water was getting everywhere. Dimming beneath his hands, Rito sighs as the downpour suddenly stops, and the glowing begins to dim. Before he can even take everything all in, he notices that while the glowing has left the watering can, the stinging sensation it left behind in his left hand was growing uncomfortable.

"What the heck?" Rito mutters, as he tries to rub feeling back into it, "What did they put on this watering can?" Rito pauses and ignores it as he is taken off of the rooftop and set down onto the ground level by a person operating a crane, though he hides the fact he hurt his hand. A steaming Kyouko and an upset Run suddenly approach him from the set, but Rito is saved by the sudden appearance of a dozen make up artists that heard the two girls away to reapply make up lost in the artificial downpour. Instead of the two girls, the sudden appearance of a teaming blonde demon lord frightens Rito, as he turns around to find himself face to face with him. The man chuckles at Rito's expression of terror, then offers him a hand in a welcoming handshake.

"Nice to meet you," the man, (Flambeau?), states as he shakes Rito's unburned hand eagerly, "I heard you were our special recruit that inspired all of this?" Rito nods dumbly as the man chuckles in response. "I have to say, thanks, I never thought they would have found a reason to bring my character in anytime soon, I guess I have you to thank for breaking that creative writer's block the writing department has been having trying to introduce the 'Demon Lord' into Magical Kyouko," he states, slapping Rito on the back, "Nice outfit by the way, 'Magical Gardener', though I do wonder how you got that glowing trick to work with that rusty old can!" Rito just chuckles nervously in response, while the older man just smiles. "Oh, where are my manners, I've been in America too long it seems, my name is Charden Flamberg, I'm actually Kyouko's cousin, on her Father's side of course," he states, and Rito feels the heat coming off of him in testament to that, "Though I have to say, I'm sure you already knew that, Rito Yuuki." The way he says it kind of causes Rito's skin to crawl, but he ignores it as Charden casually dismisses himself to return to make up himself, having had the girls finished in record timing. Rito isn't sad to see him go, though he feels quite a bit fearful seeing Run and Kyouko approaching him again.

While he tries to smile, hiding his numb hand from the two women, Rito stares as Run and Kyouko approach him. "Great shoot, Rito!" Kyouko states with a relieved smile, "I so thought the Director was going to cut that speech out, but he thought it added something that scene was lacking!" She giggles as Rito bashfully scratches the back of his neck with his right hand, keeping his left straight at his side, unmoving. Perhaps it was the lack of movement, or Run just being nit-picky, but she picked up on it and caught Rito's eyes as she stared at his injured hand. Kyouko steps in again, sensing the tension, before Run can bring it up. "So, Rito, you met my cousin Charden, he's been acting in foreign movies overseas before coming back here," she states, smiling and grabbing both of Rito's hands eagerly, causing Rito to wince and smile uncomfortably, "It was a little gross that my character was attracted to him, buuut he is my cousin, and I have to admit he is quite a lady killer with all those female fans." She chuckles and lets go of Rito's hands, letting them fall and causing Rito to wince while smiling as it stiffly hits his costume. He grabs his wrist unconsciously, and finally Run has enough beating around the bush, as she pushes Kyouko aside with a sigh, and grabs Rito roughly by the forearm.

"Come on newbie, let's go to Mikado's trailer," Run orders, as she grabs Kyouko's arm and drags her behind as well, "I'm sure she left some kind of anti-itch lotion, or some burn cream we can use to help whatever it is going on." She walks in front of the trailer that Rito had woken up in, opening the door and roughly tossing him up the stairs, before letting go of Kyouko and motioning for her to go up. Run closes the door behind her as she enters Sensei's trailer, and then turns on the light so it can be brighter than just sunlight streaming in from between the curtains. "Ryoko's gotta have something for burns in here," Run announces, before pointing Kyouko over to one of the drawers, and then Rito to another set, "You look over there, Kyouko look there, and I'll check the bathroom for chemical burn ointment, since whatever those guys used on to get that glowing effect, the phosphorescent isn't reacting well I bet." Rito nods, rubbing the affected area and noticing dark splotches forming on his affected area. Physical discoloration was not something that Rito expected to happen when he held that watering tin, nor was he expecting it to burn him either, he had to find something to take care of it and reverse it if it wasn't permanent.

"Here!" Kyouko states, after going through some cupboards and finding some alien topical cream, hoisting it above her head, "It looks like... Gourmand Sun Burn Lotion?" She quirks an eyebrow at that, but stands up and hands the tube to Run. "Odd that a bunch of foodies have sun burn lotion, considering they live in the remnants of a dark matter nebula," she states, while Run just shrugs.

"Memorzean's just deal with it, our planet is basically the best place to gets tans for those whose planet's lack the proper seasons," Run responds, opening the container and sniffing it, before a look of disgust crosses her face, and she covers her mouth as she passes the contents of the tube to Rito, " _Urpph_ \- Definitely Gourmand, smells like their handiwork..." Rito reluctantly grabs the tube, then squirts the tiniest bit of the contents onto his affected finger, and he is a little bit disgusted and awed that the black semi-solid appears to be emitting colors attached to scents he could only describe as disgusting.

The scent though it smelt horrible to Rito at first, seemed to draw some remnant of familiarity in the recesses of his mind. He didn't know where it was exactly he remembered this smell, this sensation from, but he began to grow accustom to it. Rubbing it into his skin, he began to massage it into his hand and work it around his knuckle. The effects of the sun burn cream were immediate, as Rito felt the cool liquid soak into the burn and relieve the stinging aggitation. Closing his eyes and sighing in relief, he rubbed more of the dark cream onto his hand and felt the numbness die off as he felt his motor functions returning to his hand. He had actually squeezed a bit too aggressively when applying the extra coat, and managed to squirt a drop onto his cheek. Suddenly salivating, and extremely curious, Rito quickly licked the substance from the corner of his mouth that a drop had landed on, ignoring the fact it was a hand cream for a moment. When the incredulous look of Kyouko and Run registered with Rito's brain, he raised an eyebrow in confusion at their stares. "What?" he asks, "It's not like I just... ate... it..." He blinks, then focuses on the taste. It had been a bit metallic on his tongue, like copper, yet it was textually smooth and even rich, a little heavy mineral but otherwise not too unpleasant, much to the surprise of his taste buds.

"I thought a human couldn't stand dark matter," Kyouko whispers none to subtly to Run, "In fact, I don't know anyone outside of Devilukeans and Gourmandean's, and a couple others off hand, that can eat the stuff without puking..." Rito blanches at that, a confused expression on his face as he tries to reconcile that sentence. The sun burn cream was by no means inedible, the flavor had been a taste experience that he had actually enjoyed, yet Rito did have to acknow;edge that the sudden craving and desire to taste the cream had been unexpected, and even a tip off that something was wrong.

"I honestly don't know what came over me there," Rito states, as he puts his left hand on his forehead, "It's not like I really wanted to eat it, but it was like my body just started to crave the dark matter in... it." He feels a tapping on his shoulder, interrupting him as he talks, so he looks through his fingers to see the shocked expressions of Run and Kyouko. "What, do I have something on me?" he asks, as he looks over his exposed skin, "Did the cream react badly or something?" He looks over his arms, his palms, his fingernails, before glancing over each of the fingers of his hand, skimming over the black ring on his ring finger... "What the heck!" Rito cries out, as he puts his left hand out for everyone to view, "When did that get there!" Run and Kyouko are looking closely at the tarnished looking ring that was darkening as it seemed to absorb the thick coating of burn cream that Rito had applied to his skin. The ring seemed to draw the blackness into itself, like a sponge absorbing water, until the only speck of black on Rito's hand was the fully formed, perfectly circular ring that suddenly budded two clear stones. ' _Except_ ,' Rito noted as he stared closer at both of them, ' _They were actually two extremely pale diamonds._ ' One of them was a very light white/pink that seemed to by stronger than the other colored rock, this one a pale orange that seemed to by bleeding out color as he watched it flicker.

"Rito, who the heck are you?" Kyouko asks, as she stares at the ring and then at Rito himself, "Are you an alien too?" He's speechless as he pulls away from Kyouko and Run, stumbling backwards as he stares at his hand in a mixture of awe and confusion.

"I'm- I'm Rito Yuuki- I'm just an ordinary human," he states, his voice and breathing suddenly raising and becoming shallower as he panics, "I'm not an alien, I'm an amnesiac that was abduc-aggghhh!" Rito grabs his head in pain, as he falls backwards onto the ground, seizing up from the pain that suddenly assaulted his brain and skull. He crashes onto the floor, hitting his head on the corner of Mikado Sensei's table in the trailer. He feels his head suddenly getting lighter, as blood starts to stain the carpet.

"Get him stabilized, stop that bleeding!" Mikado orders as she walks in on the scene, seeing Run and Kyouko standing over him, "Get me my supplies, we can't lose him-" Whatever it was that Mikado Sensei was saying was lost to Rito, as he stared unfocused ahead of him, his vision quickly dimming from either the blood loss or the shock he was going into. It didn't matter anyway, he wouldn't be awake or able to move from the excruciating pain wracking his mind from the inside, as he felt his brain boil from within at the assault of fresh memories. That was when Mikado Sensei quickly pumped him with some form off anesthetic, and Rito began to drift softly down into the darkness for the (fourth?) time...

OoOoOoOoO

 _He hated it when Run was around him, and the summer pool party Saki had set up to invite her rival Lala and snub her in the face with it, was no exception. Haruna had declined to come, something about a family emergency with her sister, or something, while Mikan had unapologetically taken Yami and Celine with her to somewhere more suitable to their tastes; either the water park, or one of the fountains that the city set up in the parks just for this time of year. Rito was left alone with a clingy Momo and Run, who alternated between each other trying to force him in compromising situations, while Lala was off enjoying herself with Nana, chatting over lemonade, while Saki sunbathed while being watched over by Rin and Aya. Rito was surprised that even Mio and Risa were there, making small talk with Mea and sunbathing Nemesis, who was on her stomach in the nude, specifically just to torture Rito. It had taken him two hours of drinks, distractions, and 'accidents' before he got fed up and ran into one of Saki's many rooms to go change and hopefully lose the girls pining after him like lovesick... well, teenagers._

 _Suddenly Rito stumbles into Run, and he knocks her down onto the ground on accident. "Oh, Run," he states disinterestedly, grabbing her hand and helping her up, "I was looking for yo, I wanted to tell you something..." Suddenly he watched his next words play out before his own eyes, like he was a mute observer as he is pulled out of his body and becomes a separate entity. He can't hear what his double says, the words are jumbled and confused, but the effect is immediate as he watches Run freeze in horror, and begin to tear up. Tears are streaming down her cheeks, running whatever mascara and make up the girl had put on her in another attempt to seduce him, no doubt. Rito pushes away the feeling of guilt as soon as it surfaces, he didn't regret what he said!_

 _"W-why are you saying these t-things R-Rito?" she asks, sobbing, ""Are- are you being coerced; are you just s-saying this b-because /_ The Pearl _/ is forcing you to do this?" The Memorze girl is rubbing her eyes, smearing more make up on her face, but showing a look of renewed determination on her face, "Why are you lying about your /_ situation _/?" she asks, and Rito feels a pang of /distress/ at her words, "W-why are you giving into /_ your regret _/ when you k-know how much better /_ acceptance is _/!" Suddenly her mood shifts to anger, as she balls her fists and stares down Rito. A strike of thunder lights off in the distance, as the sunny summer day becomes cloudy, then stormy, as sudden downpour occurs outside. "You!" She shouts, pointing at the separate Rito and getting up and personal with him, "Did you put him up to this?" She walks back and faces the other Rito, pointing at him. "Are you trying to stop him, just like /_ Kurosake _/?" she asks, turning to Rito "Do you know who, /_ What, you _/ are?" She suddenly walks up to Rito, and slaps him, before turning the other Rito towards him. "You are him, he is you!" she states, "You aren't /_ Dead _/ Rito, not while /_ Adam _/ is still alive!" The other Rito suddenly changes in his memory, as his hair grows blonde, his eyes turn green then red, and his spiky hair settles down and grows into longer locks. He smiles as other Rito raises his hand and looks from it to Rito, then pulls it back._

 _Before Rito can even react, he gasps as he feels the hand grasp his heart, and he looks down to see his other selves arm impaled in his chest, leaking out blood from around it. "I don't regret this," his other self states, staring Rito in the face, as he looks on in horror, unable to speak as he feels his breathing grow sluggish, "I'm trying to save you Rito, but you can't stop fighting back." Rito feels the man squeeze his chest, and smile all the while. "Don't worry Rito, it will all be over soon," he states, as he lets go and allows Rito to collapse to the floor, "The testing is almost over, soon the Darkness will make you well again." Rito sees the man is holding his heart, a red string seems to be coming out of it, pulsing with light and hope and love. "You won't be needing this," other Rito says, "You have to cut them Rito; until then I will hold onto this." Rito watches as the other Rito takes his heart and lifts his shirt, revealing a hole where his heart would be. Stuffing it into place, the Other Rito stares on, while Rito feels himself sinking deeper and deeper into the miry darkness around him._

OoOoOoOoOoO

Gasping as he awakens to find himself not dead. Rito feels for where his heart is, and the rhythmic thumping in his blood assures him he had not lost it. But the dream still haunted Rito, as did the memories associated with it. Rito had never gone to any pool party that he remembered that occurring, and certainly not facing Run like that, with such anguish in her voice.

 _That wasn't where you had broken her heart, it had been the school rooftop when you were fighting._

And that other Rito, that one who wasn't him, he didn't know who he was, or why he was there.

 _Of course you remember who he is. He's you, dummy! Just remember who you are already._

Rito shakes his head, feeling an onslaught of dizziness and a pounding headache in the back of his skull. Feeling the back of his head, he pulls back flecks of dried blood from his hair, where he must have hit his head upon his fall.

 _It's not real Rito, you were beginning to remember that. The World doesn't want you to remember. Fight it Rito, fight back, its trying to tie you down to this false reality._

Run walks in from the door, and is there at his side, seeing he is awake now. "Rito!" she says, misty eyed and smiling, a clear reversal of her attitude towards him earlier, "I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you earlier!" She grabs a metal chair from nearby and brings it closer to the unfamiliar bed that he finds himself in, thin cotton sheets that are too rough and scratchy for his taste. "Mikado Sensei explained everything to me, about your amnesia, about how you were lost," she states, smiling and giggling as she grabs for Rito's hand and puts it between both of hers, "I- I can't say I remember everything about you, it's been so long and I've had a busy life ever since Red and I have gone our separate ways..." She tears up a bit, looking deeply into Rito's eyes and putting her head down to her hands that are still enclosed around Rito's. "I can't believe I forgot about you, but I remember a little bit about our first kiss, when you were nice to me, and kind despite Ren being a jerk to you," she says, looking up at Rito with mischievous eyes, "But you're back now, Rito, and now Lala, Haruna, all the other girls aren't in the way anymore, and you can all be mine!" Rito feels his heart skip a beat, remembering the dream he had just experienced, the tearstained face , and the unforgiving anger that blazed in her eyes. He gently removes his hand form between hers, a concerned look on his face that turns to a frown of pity.

"I'm sorry Run, I- I don't think I love you like you seem to love me," Rito says, as Run just looks up at him in confusion, "I- think you know exactly what I mean Run, I just returned to Sainan, I wasn't even intending to come across you, but I made a mess of our reunion." Run grasps the sheets between her nails, gripping hard. "You didn't care who I was, or even asked if I was okay, you immediately assumed I was just another one of your fanboys, or a stalker," Rito states, looking up at her with an iron stare, "Kyouko at least cared about burning me, she asked for her forgiveness, and you demanded me to repay you for a broken staff; an item easily replaced by your prop department, when a human life could have been put in mortal peril from dangerous flames.." He can see the tears of joy turn to ones of sorrow, but his face remains blank, despite how cold or ruthless he even begins thinking his words are.

"I don't know who you think I am Run, but I don't know who that man is, I never knew who that man was... not until just now, actually," he replies, lifting up his hands and stretching them, before focusing on his left ring finger, where a solid black ring still graces his hand, "I think I'm getting closer to discovering that man, but I know one thing for sure: I don't love you, Run Elsie Jewelria, I don't think I ever loved the petulant, jealous girl who blamed her dead best friend for falling in love with a boy that wasn't her other half..." He removes the blanket from his lap, and moves to get up on the opposite side of where Run was sitting. "It's funny, you were two sides of the same coin, did you ever once think that your hatred of Lala for all of her 'experiments' were really Ren's feelings of resentment, or that his friendship slash borderline obsession with Lala wasn't really yours?" he asks, totally curious to that answer, "Did you ever think the love that Ren felt, that doting, forgiving heart that held a torch for a girl that snubbed him at every turn, wasn't reflecting your true feelings of friendship with her?" He gets up from the bed and looks out the window of the building, and finds a track field outdoors, with teens in gym practice playing outdoors in the sunny day. "Sainan High, hmmm..." Rito muses, as he then holds his hands behind his back and his reflection smiles as he views the outside world, "I don't know if the feelings you ever felt for me were real, Run, whether that 'kiss' ever really meant something, or if you were spurned on subconsciously by your brother's jealousy of Lala's affections for me, to try and help your brother by ruining my relationship with her."

He thumbs his ring from behind, and Run watches the motion, before sighing and lowering her head. She thumbs her own hand, absent of a ring, yet looped by a string the unseen watcher could have described as the color of desire. "Don't get me wrong, Run, I don't dislike you," Rito suddenly says, turning around with a thin smile, "You've got a strong will, a passion for your work, Run, but I couldn't dream of keeping up." Run looks up and feels a tugging at her heart, as a small frown descends on her face. "You can keep at this if you want, but I can't stand in the same blazing glory you and Kyouko share, Run, not without wilting in your shadows," Rito states, as he begins to walk out of the infirmary, pausing at the door, "The Masked Gardener won't be a problem for you anymore Run, and don't worry about me...I have something bigger to solve anyway, but thanks for the wings; I just flew too close to the sun and paid the price." Run turns to say something, but Rito is gone, as is the words that were on the tip of her tongue. Her outstretched arm faults in its motion, falling to her side and remaining there as Run begins to cry silent in her newfound misery. The red string seems to fizzle away like an apparition in the summer heat, as if it had never really been there in the first place.

 _Rito..._

By the time Rito had made it out onto school grounds, finding the doorway and heading down the street, he feels an invisible tether suddenly yank him out of his thoughts. He feels the pull towards a house, towards home, like a path he had walked innumerable times before and since, yet something held him back from following it. Rito looks down at his chest, where the sharp, slicing pain was the held him at his ground. Staring at the incredible thing there, he can't help but laugh at the irony of it all. Sprouting out from his heart and coiling its way around his chest and even his arms and legs like rings circling his body, a thin, red cord seemed to wrap its way around him and constrict his movement. It was as if the cord was alive and telling him not to go where he wanted to, but instead follow it. Exercising that notion, he heard the telltale click of heels behind him, and the sudden release of tension from his mysterious, red string. Turning to see what, or rather who, it was that was approaching him, Rito saw a quick movement out of the corner of his eyes, and ducked to avoid being hit from the fast moving object. He watched, in slow motion, as a silvery, shining blade misses him by mere centimeters. Rito also watches as the friction form the blade be dragged through the air, cracks the concrete below in its wake. The gulp and prayer of mercy goes unheard.

 **A/N: I'm sure you all noticed the name change that recently came about with the last chapter. Some of you probably didn't, and just noticed the added 'To-Love Ru:', and went to see if I was joking or not. Still, getting off topic here...**

 **I'm thinking of keeping the new change, but seeing as my story has definitely veered off of this with plot developments, I want to change the name to something more... fitting.**  
 **Choices are:**  
 **1\. To Love Ru: Pearls of Wisdom**  
 **2\. Keep it as is.**  
 **3\. You guys make suggestions in the reviews!**

 **Honestly, I'm partial to 1 myself, but I thought I'd spitball it out and see what everyone suggested. I'm looking at you kid! Hope I left you more puzzled, confused, and outraged then in previous chapters... I have to say my imagination ran away with me!**


	46. Troubling Revelations

**_Glad to see everyone has been intrigued by our story. The parallels are rather similar to the beginning of this whole, lengthy tale, isn't it? A boy goes to spurn his many lovers, to choose the one he thought was right, only for the entire effort to be in vain, as the one he had 'chosen' to love, had in fact orchestrated the entire thing to further her own goals. Is it not ironic that that same boy, spurned on by his own regrets to reconcile with these same lost loves, forces him forward, towards a path converging on that same selfish, twisted lover? A young woman, barely a girl herself, who forsook her own sisters feelings just to claim him as her own. Such a tragic, twisted tale such as this can only end in bleak darkness, can it not? Mayhaps, or mayhaps not. Let us light the final few colors to this reverse rainbow, and see what occurs. Will this story end in darkness, or shed new light in its crescendo._**

 _Outside Sainan High School_

Yellow fists aim to hit him, yet Rito sidesteps the oncoming projectiles like they were nothing. He looks up to see a blonde girl standing upon a nearby roof with a book on her hand and a glare on her face. Her dress was a familiar gothic style, something screaming at him to run and not look up, ignoring that though, he was surprised to see that she seemed to be viewing him with a disinterested expression. "How shameless, Yuuki Rito, to avoid your punishment like that!" she states, raising her arm to form a scythe sword from more of her hair, "You being here, that isn't very nice, since you are my target." Recognition sparks in Rito's mind, as more memories of a blonde girl raise up in his awareness, so he closes his eyes and searches for the stray thoughts that resonate with this woman.

 _"Yuuki Rito."_  
 _"How Shameless."_  
 _"I hate Ecchi things!"_  
 _"I hate slimy things!"_  
 _"You are my target, Rito, no one else is allowed to kill you but me."_  
 _"You're the target... of my love... okay!"_

Sighing, Rito looks up at the woman in front of him, holding the forgotten library book in her hand, while her hair was bristling, transformed into multiple weapons all aimed at him. He gulps and steps back as he watches Yami stare down at him. Then a stray breeze blows trough the neighborhood, and Rito's heart freezes in his throat, with her skirt fluttering up in the breeze to reveal the striped panties worn beneath her outfit. Rito barely felt one of the razor sharp blades nick a spot just above his left ear, though his head was ringing as it went past him and dug into the cement behind where he stood. "You saw," she states more than questions, "Tch, a pervert just as you always were..." Before Rito can even move, let alone run away, another stray blade sets itself in the ground behind him from his right side. Then two more land right in front of him, and Yami lowers herself from the rooftop to the street, keeping Rito rooted to his spot as she approaches him. She removes her hair from the street, and stares Rito down, with the orange haired boy sweating bullets as she stands mere inches from his face. He closes his eyes in fear, as he awaits her to do something painful to him.

 _ **Chu**_

Rito opens his eyes in shock as Yami leans back from kissing his cheek, blushing and in shock that he wasn't dead. "It is good to see you still are alive, Rito," Yami comments, her smile falling back into the blank mask she normally wore, "I had feared that something would have befallen you in between coming back to Earth, and our meeting once more." Rito blinks, unsure what is going on, but feeling like she was toying with him all the same. "Don't worry Rito, I will not stand in your way of finding your way home," Yami states, as she grabs Rito's left hand and holds it tightly, "Though you must forgive me, for while I have found someone else to be the target of my affection, there is something deep within me seeking to break free- someone who doesn't like to share." She puts his hand to her chest, where the cross section of her dress overlays with her beating heart. Rito is confused as to what she is doing, until the dress begins to distort, like black smoke is coming off of her, every fiber of her figure altering at the molecular level.

Were it any other woman Rito would be on edge, over stimulated by the sight of a woman growing and altering her clothing before him, yet in front of this woman Rito remained strangely calm. Giggling and tossing her hair back as she stretches her arms towards the sky, the altered Yami does a spin in her new, skimpy dress that barely consisted of a single one piece bathing suit emphasizing her sexuality. Her sultry red eyes landed on Rito, as if sizing him up like a predator would their prey, before smiling from ear to ear like a cheshire cat and sauntering up to Rito. She brings a gauntlet up to Rito's face, daggered tips as red as blood, and she gently caresses his face with the barest of glances over his skin. Satisfied she would not draw blood, Rito was about to speak, when she put a single finger two his lips. "Don't bother speaking Rito, I already know what it is you are doing here, even if you do not," she states, looking him in the eye before removing the finger from his mouth and turning away from him, to reveal her bare back, "Only you could split my soul in two, Rito, my love divided between the Darkness and the Light."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean?" he asks questionably, as the girl before him smirks in return, "I just got back, and my memory is still a little fuzzy..." The girl gives him a look of disbelief, and Rito knew his bluff was called and shot down. "Well I'll be honest then, I don't really know why I am here, besides trying to find my way home," he states, a rising bit of hope as he looks at the devilish looking girl before him, "Do you- do you think you could explain it to me, I mean what you know about me, since every little bit helps..." The girl smiles, before leaning in to whisper in his ear.

"How about a game?" she purrs into his ear, and Rito almost falters as she pushes against him so daringly, "A game of cat and mouse, hide and seek, of hunter and prey." Smiling wickedly as she licks her lips, Rito watches her as she does so. "If you survive this game with me throwing everything at you until the sun sets in... about one hour, I'll promise to tell you something grand," she states, blowing air onto his ear, "A secret only I know, about your situation, and how it can help you..." She pulls away, claws behind her and the smile still gracing her lips as she stares at him, expecting a response.

"How can I r-refuse?" he chuckles nervously, gulping, "Can I at least get a head start?" He stands back, as the wicked gleam in her eyes becomes more apparent, as she nods and allows him to turn around and begin running down the street.

"Three minutes, Rito, you better hurry," she cries out behind him, "Once I come after you, you better start running!" Rito is in a panic as he stumbles and nearly trips on his feet, running past people, avoiding women as much as possible, and hoping against all odds his feet could carry him faster than she could follow him. After running for as long as he could, heading for what he hoped was as far away from populated areas as he could, he ended up tumbling down a hill and ending at the base of a river. Getting up and seeing a bridge nearby, he ran as fast as his feet could carry him, hopping he could hide in time to give him a few moments to collect his breath. Ending up hiding before being spotted, he sighs in relief as he comes to rest underneath the bridge. What surprises him is the makeshift camp beneath the bridge, a mattress holed up underneath a tent structure cobbled together from scrap cloth and table covers, while a not too safe fire seemed to be set ablaze within a tied together stack of logs that looked like a full tree stump.

"Hey, get out of here!" a boy suddenly states, appearing from beneath the tent and getting up to stare down Rito, "Whoever you are, this is my bed, my space, my food, my fire, so get out of here and go hole up somewhere else!" Rito backs off, the other man meaning business... and barring his teeth? Come to think of it, the kid looked dirty, like he had been sleeping in the clothing he had for a while now, and the dirt and grime on his face and hands contrasted with his young appearance. "What are you looking at?" the kid demanded, staring him down as he adjusted his dirty looking hat, which seemed to cover his grimy, dirty white hair, just barely, "I don't care who you are, or what you think you're doing here, but..." Suddenly the kid stops, sniffing the air for a moment, cocking his head as he looks intently at Rito and squeezes his eyes as if he was focusing on him and trying to read him. "Yuuki- Yuuki Rito, boy what are you doing here?" the younger-than-him teen asks, "I recognize that scent anywhere, even after all these years..." He gets up and gets into Rito's space,though he doesn't get too close. "What are you hiding from, Yuuki Rito?" he asks, inhaling deeply,before visibly shuddering to Rito's naked eye, "The girl, I smell the darkness on her... and Taiyaki?" Rito notices as the boy is talking to him, he suddenly goes quiet and looks off to the side, where Rito had just come from. As if it wasn't strange enough, the boy proceeded to imitate an animal, a deep growl forcing itself free from his throat as he stares in that direction. "Go, Yuuki Rito, she's found you!" he cries out, as he stands up and pushes Rito away, "Run, I'll keep her at bay for as long as I can, just run, go child!" Unable to do anything but obey, the Rito runs while he can, though he looks back to see a massive version of himself suddenly appear, as if coming up from the ground like some sort of stone giant.

He stops watching as he sees the massive Rito bring his fist down, ignoring the sounds of battle as he keeps on running. If he were to look back, he would have been surprised to see a perplexed Darkness face down a boy with his matted hair designed like dog ears, and a tail of Orichalcum trailing from underneath the blankets he had hidden them under. "Have at thee, witch of darkness!" the teen states, barring his teeth in exhilaration, "Let it be sung to the glorious moon in the heavens that man's best friend was not a coward this day, when he alone faced down impossible odds, at the hand of a furious b-!" Smashed into dirt, his words forgotten, the annoyed form of Darkness turned her attention to Rito, who had gotten away after being distracted by the nuisance formerly known as man's best friend. Narrowing her eyes, she sprouts wings as dark as night, then with one powerful swoop gains height to soar above the city. She had a target to find, and less than an hour to torture him now.

OoOoOoOoO

The assassin known as Kuro, aka 'Black', aka 'Black Cat', was currently on his way to confront Rito Yuuki once more. He had learned of Rito Yuuki's return to the planet, and had taken the appropriate steps to dissuade the man from staying. He had a contractual obligation to fulfill with the Devilukean King himself, and Gid was not known to be a man of mercy for those he faced personally. To have hired a bounty hunter or assassin at all was unheard of for the Devilukean King, who chose to face his problems head on, so the need to put out a bounty on the head of Yuuki Rito of the city of Sainan, Japan, on Earth, took the galaxy by storm. Gossip spread regarding this mysterious, elusive man, and why it was the devil king himself required someone else to do this job. Many tales spoke of Rito as the same man who had drugged and killed the head of the Star Cabal, while others called him the Devil's Shadow, as even the King himself could strike this man, yet find only air in his grasp as he eluded him. Earth itself was an unknown planet, low grade and a hub of activity for the careful few, those that had permits,or ins with the local governmental agencies that secretly cooperated with extraterrestrial companies as a tourist stop, in exchange for better technology, or secrets of the lesser known parts of the universe.

Stories even spread that the death of the Crown Princess was no accident, and that it was in fact Yuuki Rito who had sabotaged the escape pod the princess took fleeing from her captor. The truth was far worse, and Yuuki Rito seemed to be an innocent in all of this, merely a scapegoat and pawn in some larger game that not even Kuro himself could understand. He had done his own footwork, and found the Princess' capsule having not been tampered with, and in actuality been merely an unfortunate accident. It had taken three days for Kuro to sneak into a governmental office, look up paper trails where electronic ones had been seemingly erased, as if never having existed at all. In his studies of the paper trails Yuuki Rito was no one special, barely fifteen, and a nobody that had merely caught the fancy of an alien princess who was known to have a rebellious streak. It had been no secret that the crown princess was known for her escapades, unable or otherwise not wanting to marry any of the many suitors that her father had tried to set her up with. It had been a mere fluke that Rito had managed to catch her eye, and the attention of the King of Deviluke himself in the process, so it became quite clear to Kuro that there was some sort of test the King of Deviluke was performing on Rito before this tragic event unfolded, requiring others to search for an unwitting and unwilling participant forced to play the king's games. Games that had ended unexpectedly with the loss of life of one of the King's most precious of daughters. If he could ignore the bounty, he would, but honor bound to follow through his code of ethics, Kuro knew Rito Yuuki must be brought to justice, no matter how bitter it would taste in his mouth afterwards.

"Saya, what would you think of me now, doing this?" he asks, as he stares up at the warm, sunny sky as if searching for an answer. Not receiving anything, and knowing he would not, Kuro set his sights back on his target, watching from across the way between buildings where he would not be spotted. The brunette hair of his target once more in his sight, he watched as the girl ate with her other familial occupant, the little plantasian child sitting in a child's seat provided by the little diner for the girl to be at height with the table. Mikan Yuuki, the only sister and living relative Rito Yuuki would likely contact in his time of need, Kuro was covering all of his bases by sticking to the sister and the sister alone. His deadbeat father was a starving manga artist that Mikan occasionally cleaned up for a monthly allowance, though as he was mostly a workaholic that stuck to the spare bedroom in his art studio, Kuro knew that Rito's memories would point him to his sister, before his father. From their confrontation the other night, when he lost him in the park, Rito was confused, unsure, and especially vulnerable to put himself in the open like he did. Kuro had even fished him for details, and it was like Rito had no clue as to what he was talking about, like the last two missing years where little more than a dream, and that he was a stranger in a strange land.

If the case turned out that Rito had been injured in the same accident that took the Princess from this world, though it was said her body was never found, then it meant that Rito could have equally been innocent of the charges Gid had brought up on him, but two years had gone by and nothing had changed. Kuro wondered, perhaps, if that meant that not even Gid knew the true events surrounding the explosion that happened that day. If that was also true, then it meant Kuro was hunting an innocent man who was following his own faulty memories home. Kuro didn't like that implication either, but he had a job to do and he would follow it through, even if it led him to an ugly end. Looking once more at the girls, who were no done with their lunch and would likely be going home to end their day, Kuro turned away and headed back through the dirty alley to the other side of town. Either he would find his mark and end the job, or the only other assassin on this planet would find her target and end him. Kuro knew it was only a matter of time before both of their paths crossed, and it was something he would rather put off. He hoped it wouldn't come to that, but knowing his bad luck- An explosion of dust in the distance and the elusive assassin was gone, already heading for the specks of debris he saw flying, signs he knew as showing that Yami was using her powers. He just hoped it wasn't the monster inside of her, wearing her skin.

OoOoOoOoO

Having ducked into some empty looking suburbs, Rito desperately tries to take this fight away from the people in the major areas of the town. Running up one street, Rito tries to make it as far as possible to the end of the street, when he finds himself caught between his stone doppelganger, and the beating black wings of a dark angel descending to meet him at a spot between a park and some houses. He gulps as Darkness descends, smiling as she does so, and watches as she turns one of her strands of hair into a wicked looking scythe. "I have to say, you did give me the slip there, Rito-kun, but not even an act of god itself will save you," she states, before gaining an even wider smile, "Though I would, oh so love it if you did grope me, for one last time, I'd love so much to feel your soft flesh pleasing me in ways only your perverted impulses could." She licks one of the talons on the end of her gauntlets in anticipation, a look of sheer pleasure, crazed, on her face.

"So restrained, always holding yourself back from your savage, lust-filled impulses; how many naughty dreams you must have had of those girls you indecently exposed," she states, drooling at the thought, "Their colored panties, or were they striped, maybe plain; how they smelled, how they squirmed underneath your touch." Rito takes a step back, as she advances. "Didn't you find pleasure in their bare skin, feeling the thin fabric separating you from crossing a line, under your fingers as you slipped their bras and undergarments off with practiced ease; having your libido force your body to train itself to do more and more indecent acts upon those innocent girls," she licks her wet fingers, and goes to feel her own excitement, while Rito uncomfortably watches, stopping just short of doing the act, "Doesn't it excite you for me to bring these things up to you, your shameless actions, your deepest regrets brought to life by one of your greatest of accumulating failures?"

Rito pauses at that, while Yami smiles, having caught his attention at last. "Yes, Rito, I am one of your failures as well, or didn't you know?" she spreads her arms out at last, her hair reverting to its natural state before creating a plethora of puppets, mimics of hair that copied the forms of those both familiar and unfamiliar to Rito, as he watches each one with interest. "Poor Momo and Nana, one of your more tragic regrets; one always in their sister's shadow, vying to be seen as more than just another pretty face, yet jealous of the attention of the oldest," she stats, while stroking fake Momo's hair, letting her go and forcing her to get up and close with Rito, before another butts in and tries to make a grab at Rito, "While the other, so innocent and naive of the ways of the world can barely make a friend with that dreadful tsundere personality of hers forcing everyone away, not to mention that bust complex she seems to have making her so insecure of her love..."

The mimic looks back at Darkness, miming sadness as she covers non-existent breasts, before Darkness pulls her back out of Rito's view. "Oh, and don't get me started about tsunderes; that poor girl, Kokegawa, Kotegawa, Yui, whatever her name is?" Darkness shrugs her shoulders, as she brings that puppet forward, "She is almost wound as tight as you, Rito, that girl represses everything and everyone, smothering their creativity, their freedom, their desires, everything she views as 'shameless', she suppresses with aggressive abandon." She then creates a Rito puppet made of hair, and has it approach the Kotegawa puppet. "Get that girl started on you, and she tears into you like a starving, rabid dog," she shows the Rito puppet falling face first into a non existent crotch, before the Yui puppets slaps the Rito puppet away, dispelling it back into hair, "Then she secretly enjoys those same 'shameless' things at home, still wound up tight mind you, but she has her own hobbies she would rather keep hidden, then let the world know." Pulling back that puppet, Darkness moves on to another.

"Not to mention poor Run, the heart broken best friend who shared a body with her male twin," she states, as she mimes a sneeze, changing her form to Ren, then back, "She has quite a few problems, was she ever really Lala's friend, did she really resent Lala, or was it her brothers feelings leaking over into her, and vice verse; oh, so much jealousy of Lala regarding you, was she really jealous, or did she secretly wish for her brother prove himself, to hook up with the princess just so she could have your love all to herself?" She creates a Ren puppet and then a Rito puppet, and has Ren and Lala hook up, fake kissing, while the Run and Rito puppet likewise confront each other about their feelings.

Taking those away now, she stares crazily at Rito, and Rito watches as she keeps going. "Now, what about me, you ask?" she pulls up a normal looking puppet of her unaltered self, "Well, Yami suppressed just about everything, and I was born as a result." She smiles still, showcasing her body and flaunting them towards Rito. "Now, not to brag or anything, but I think acting out about every wonderful, shameless, perverted thing I held back against, oooh, it was just, so right for me..." she states in pleasure, reliving her own moments, before opening her eyes and looking straight at Rito, "Didn't you hate it, when you failed yourself, having to let go of your own morals and let me have it, debasing yourself to little more than an animal driven by instinct to act out your hormone fueled desires!" Rito is blushing and looking away at that, while Darkness brings a golden hand to force him to look her in the eyes. "Didn't you regret it, when you threw yourself at me like a madman, acting like the Principal of all people, just to try and 'save' me?" she smiles as she sees him frown, "Yes, I see your regret, I smell how delicious your misery is, Rito, how you felt lowering your friends standards of yourself in their eyes, how much you regret proving to them what they already thought: you're nothing but the pervert they saw in their everyday lives..." He pulls away at last, but Darkness is far from over with him.

"Oh, dear Mikan, how you must hate yourself if you were to judge yourself through her eyes," she states as she brings a puppet of Mikan and himself forward again, a fake bed being made, as Darkness brings both Momo and another character forward, "How you wake up to naked girls in bed, how you crash into the naked girls that wander your house, accidentally ending up in the bath with one or more naked girls clinging to you, or how you've been propositioned more than once in your own home." She pulls one of the metal fingers from her mouth, a tiny string of drool clinging to it as she pulls it away. "Oh, Rito how I envy your life, truly as it is, were I in your shoes," Darkness states, "But dear sister, oh how she must loathe your playboy lifestyle, drawing in these women who you seemingly show no interest in, how you must regret what she views you as, she already doesn't even refer to you as 'Onii-chan', will she eventually even call you her 'brother' anymore?" At that she causes Rito's ears to ring, and she watches as tears form in his eyes, seeing her words actually reach his heart.

"What about our last two participants, oh lovable Rito?" she questions, pulling out the two unknown girls, the last of her puppets he really has no clue, or recognition of, "Of your dear, sweet boyhood crush, and the alien girl that started this chain reaction of wonderful, glorious misfortune that befalls you, even now!" She pushes the last, human looking girl forward, short hair and delicate features displayed for Rito. "Poor Sairenji Haruna, the girl you regret never having confessed to earlier, the girl whose loss filled you with so much regret you stopped progressing in your everyday life," she mimes the puppet reaching out for Rito, false eyes showing fear and despair as she tries to reach his hand, before being cruelly pulled back and ending up in the arms of another puppet, "You regret you never said a proper goodbye, the choice taken from you by one of your own spurned lovers, and yet learning how she fell for an alien boy that once proclaimed to adore only Lala?" He watches as puppet Momo intercepts his own puppet at a door, before puppet Haruna turns away dejected, falling into the arms of puppet Ren. "My, my, what a twisted tale of love and loss, do they really love each other, or is it just a love born of circumstance?" she taunts Rito with the Ren and Haruna puppet, longer than the others, before pulling them back too, leaving one lone puppet left, "And let's not forget our master puppeteer, the girl whose very actions led you to defend her, taking a hold of your kind and caring nature, and giving her a way to spin her own fate." He watches as a hair puppet of himself appears, and watches as puppet Lala begins to pull and pull and pull until the puppet of himself begins to unwind.

Rito watches as the Lala puppet holds nothing but a pile of string in her arms, as Darkness mimes her crying into it. "Will she be able to pt you back together, after all of this is done?" Darkness asks, showing puppet Lala desperately trying to knit the pile of hair back together into a puppet Rito, "Or will her efforts be wasted by the boy who still pretends?" He takes a step back as Rito begins to piece himself back together, with the Lala puppet offering her own string in return, unwinding in exchange. "Do you still feel regret Rito, over her choice, or will you suck it up and make the best of it?" Darkness asks, dispelling all the puppets and returning her hair to normal, leaving Rito aghast, "Well, we'll just have to see how the rest of this story plays out now, won't we Rito?" Before she can say another word, suddenly a shot is heard, and Rito turns to look behind him, as the giant Rito double explodes apart.

Coughing from the cloud of dirt and spray of rocks, Rito looks through crumbling legs of his double, to see a figure in black staring him down, gun raised. "Get down, Rito Yuuki, if you want to live long enough not to be killed by a monster!" he calls out, before Rito ducks and turns to see Darkness approaching with her blades drawn, her focus at the other man, "I'm sorry Eve." Shooting bullets at the form of Darkness, she reflects them with ease, using her Trans weapons to deflect each bolt with minimal impact on the surrounding area. Rito watches as the man walks right by him, eyes focused on Darkness, and Darkness alone.

"Black, so it seems you show yourself after all; how convenient for me," she states, licking the dust from one of her blades and staring the other assassin down, "I have to warn you, Kuro, Rito is my target right now and your interference will not be tolerated at all!" Kuro merely raises his weapons once more, and Rito knows better than to stick around. " Fine then," Darkness says, as she cracks her neck and readies her weapon, "Let's play for real..."

Rito is off and running through the dirt piles that remain of his double, while shots and echoes of deflections ring in his ears, as he heads down one of the side streets that seem familiar to him. He runs, and runs, and runs, hoping to escape just long enough for the sunset to begin, and be spared his fate from whatever wicked game the crazed woman was playing with him. Rito didn't know if she meant to kill him for real, or do something equally horrible to her that was some twisted form of sexual torture only her mind could think up. Running for his life, he hoped that that assassin would distract Darkness long enough, but those were dashed when suddenly he watches a form sail over him, stopping him in his tracts. He stops in front of some houses, then looks to see the groaning form of the man, lying on the ground in front of him, cut, bleeding, and bruised as he laid out on the pavement. Suddenly wormholes, or something like them made of yellow hair, opened around the man, tossing cables, and all kinds of metal wiring over him, pinning him to the street like a cocoon made by a spider for a fly. Rito turns around in fear, as he watches Darkness slowly approach on foot, causing his legs to tremble, his knees to buckle, and his body give out right from under him.

"Do you give up so easily on all your first dates?" Darkness asks, as she approaches him, chuckling, "My, not even a full hour, but you surely lasted longer than I ever expected, Rito-kun." She draws closer to him, and brings a hand to his chin to hold it up, his eyes still alight despite his body refusing to move. "Still holding out, even to the bitter end, eh Rito?" she states, smiling as she creates a single scythe from her hair, "As valiant as it might seem, and as tingly as I am right now, your efforts to show bravery in defiance of death, is quite useless against me." She smiles as she swings her blade up. "You'll find that, despite how my other half acts against you, I am a weapon at heart," she states coolly, "Goodbye, Rito-kun, this game was fun, let's do it again now!" Swinging the scythe like a guillotine towards his head, one last spark of defiance allows him to form one last, pitiful form of defense. Raising his left arm up as weak as he was, he valiantly tries to prolong his end by trying to stop the specter of death calling for his blood. Hearing the clang of metal upon metal, Rito opens his closed eyes to find the scythe having stopped in its path, flung backwards upon hitting the ring on his hand.

The resulting clash of wills, was quite surprising to Darkness, as the contact with the ring seemed to have shook her to her very core. Taking a step back, her eyes not leaving the ring on his hand, Rito too looks at the ring, and notices the change. He watches as a vibrant red string seems to snake its way out from the ring, slowly, lazily headed towards Darkness's hand. Darkness observes this, seeing the physical manifestation of red string on her own left hand suddenly appear on her hand, snaking towards the ring. Both ends appeared to be frayed, and Rito realizes that the ring is trying to make the string it had already absorbed from Yami, whole with its other half from Darkness. "No!" she cries out, as she spreads her wings alight and forcibly pushes herself away, landing on a nearby roof, struggling against the magnetic pull she was feeling from the piece of yarn that rooted her on the roof, unable to move now, "I don't know what y-you're doing Rito, but I'll have no part, no part, you hear me!" Soon the two halves of the string have joined, and Darkness watches in horror as the string seems to stop her from pulling away. "No, no, what are you doing?" she asks in panic, before looking down at Rito, "What are you doing to me, what is it, what, what?" She looks on in fear, until she watches the red string do nothing but sit there.

Darkness, relieved that her soul wasn't being taken, that she was still there and still herself, began to chuckle and look down at Rito. "Was that the best parlor trick you could pull, Rito?" she ask snidely, as the sky begins to darken around them, "I have to say a silly strong connect us is- no, no!" Darkness turns around, to see from her vantage point the sun beginning to dip below the horizon. The dark angel watches, transfixed as the sun lowers itself slowly below the skyline, and she realizes that she had lost her game of cat and mouse. Wings bleeding color from black to white, Golden Darkness turns now to transfix more gentle eyes on the boy below her. "You are so unfair, Rito Yuuki," Golden Darkness states, looking on at Rito while sun continues its downward path, "You have it so easy, really, when you have girls such as I falling for you like flies, infatuated with your kindness and sweetness, wanting a man like you all for ourselves." She slowly turns around, facing away from Rito and spreading her wings to take in the last rays of sun. Rito stared up in awe at the angelic figure before him, the rays refracting off her feathers to give her an almost rainbow like aura of color, one that surrounded her and added to her already ethereal beauty. He gulps as he never really have had these thoughts towards her like this, not when he was more terrified of her, afraid rather than acting like many of the love struck schoolboys around pretty girls of their own age Perhaps if he had never fallen in love... But those were thoughts better left alone, when his heart was no longer conflicted and tied in knots, choked by the many 'what-ifs' and not yet straightened out to show the one true love he sought.

"What is it they say, Rito?" Golden Darkness asks, staring off into the sunset, yet still reading his own mind, "Ah, yes... no matter what it may feel like, your first love is never your true love." She smiles, though Rito was unable to see it as she faced the sunset. "You humans are so complicated in your emotions, picking at every little detail, yet forgetting the big picture," she turns and faces Rito, smiling as she looks at the cord that wraps around her finger tightly, "The truth is your first love may end, but it never really leaves you; you were my first love Rito, you taught me the meaning of love, and for that I thank you." She opens her hand, and the cord illuminated by the orange glow of the setting sun, slowly unwinds from her fingers, before flying away on the wind. "I won't forget you, Rito Yuuki, and I will learn to love again," Darkness says with a glint in her eye, "But holding onto someone like you, well, your head says one thing, and your heart leads you another..." She steps down off of the roof and lands gently on the street, before walking over to the spot where Rito was standing. She lays a gauntlet on Rito's heart, and pokes him in the chest. "I'll tell you a secret, Rito, one that may help you," she says with a cheerful smile, "When you doubt yourself, look to your heart and decide for yourself where it leads, and know that no one, not choice, or fate, or destiny, can take that from someone like you, who makes their own path." She flicks him in the nose then, killing the serious vibe she had going, giggling as she pulls away and saunters over to the struggling form of a forgotten, black haired assassin.

Taking one of her knife edged fingers, she slits the metallic cords she used to bind him to that spot. Gasping for breath as she takes of the gags keeping him from shouting profanities and threats towards Rito. "I don't care if you're wearing her skin, or if you really are her, but you'll answer for your crimes shortly, weapon," he yells, side stepping away from Golden Darkness, before whirling on Rito and aiming his weapon at him, "But he dies first!" Before Rito can react, before the not-so-happy man goes to pull the trigger, soft, white hands surround Kuro from behind and surprise him. Darkness is once again Golden, as the blonde haired, hornless Yami takes her place.

"Please, Kuro, Rito Yuuki is no longer the target of my love," she states neutrally, her confidence as Darkness hidden once more behind her own emotional mask, "Please, don't hurt him..." While she could incapacitate him in this position, Kuro pauses for the briefest of seconds as he wonders whether this girl is really who she acts she is, or whether the weapon is in control once more. "It's me Kuro, I am in control of my own Darkness," she whispers into his shoulder, "I let her out to talk to Rito, but it was Rito who healed a rift between myself and my darkness." The fact she was so open about her feelings, despite not being in the form of a weapon right now scared him more than he first thought. Gun shaking in his hand, the weapon falls from his grip as he opens his hand and lets it drop. "Thank you, Kuroneko," she states, nuzzling into his shoulder blade from behind, causing a chill to go up his spine, followed shortly by a blush on his cheeks, "I know how hard it is for you to give up your grudges, but Rito is a very good friend of mine, and he is important to Mikan-chan as well..." The hard boiled assassin thinks back to the brunette he had met, with the little girl, and he trains his eyes on Rito more closely this time. While not as obvious beyond the eye color, he could see the rising number of similarities between the sweet girl he had met, and the boy he was hired to kill.

"Alright, Yami, I know when I'm beat," he states, looking down at his weapon and smiling, "So kid, looks like I was wrong." He looks up at Rito and bitterly smiles in his direction. "It seems you do know what you're doing kid," he states, before flipping him a thumbs up, "Lala would be proud... though I can't imagine the King is going to be too happy I'm dropping his contract on you." Rito just chuckles nervously as he steps back a bit. "Yeah, fair enough, it's not like he knows I found you, so there isn't really a need to tell him," he looks back at Yami, who detaches herself from him as he moves to turn around him, "Gee, kid, it seems I had a case of mistaken identity, since Yuuki Rito can't possibly have returned to Earth, not since he disappeared two years ago and hasn't come back; why would he come back now..." Kuro looks back with a smirk, before crossing his hands behind his head and sighing. "Man, why did I go to all this trouble to hit a dead end," he states, walking away and leaving Yami and Rito behind, "Well, Yami, if you want to find me later, you'll find me all the way in Shurufuku, eating at this great Taiyaki stand on the edge of the park." As he walks away, he disappears into the nearby crowd that had largely ignored their interaction on a side street like this.

Yami now turns to Rito, walking up to him and letting a ghost of a smile grace her lips as she gives him a look over. "I am glad to see you unharmed, Yuuki Rito, though this doesn't mean we are any ore friends than we have been," Yami states, before putting a finger to her chin, "Though I do suppose you won my little game, so I am do to tell you a secret." She walks closer to him, getting on the tips of her toes to whisper in his ear, as close as can be. "Don't be fooled, Rito, this isn't a game anymore, so stop pretending you don't know the truth," she gently hisses between clenched teeth, "You were brought here for a reason, you've been forced into this situation, facing all your greatest fears and regrets, for a purpose." She steps back, and a chill travels up Rito's spine as he processes her words. "Don't let the darkness win, Yuuki Rito," Yami states hauntingly, before reaching forward and tapping the ring on his left hand, "Your trials are far from over, so face them head on and stop hiding your true self away, if you truly want to find your way home..." Spreading her white wings behind her, Golden Darkness turns to fly away from him, lifting up into the sky with a powerful push from her appendages and leaving a flurry of feathers drifting lazily behind her in her wake.

"Yami-chan?" a voice inquires, as he hears a door open from one of the nearby houses, "Yami, is that you?" Rito hears the chiming voice, so full of wonder and curiosity, and he turns to find its source. Amber eyes lock with his, and Rito feels his breath hitch in his chest upon seeing the little girl with the pink petals squirming in her arms. "Hello?" she states softly, almost apprehensively, "Do- do I know you?" The way she says that, it almost tears Rito's heart in two, but he smiles as he hears the child in her arms scream out in joy. "Celine, wait, I don't know who he is, and neither do you!" she yells, as the young child escapes her grasp and bounds down the pathway towards the entrance to the yard, where Rito stands unsure of himself, "I'm so sorry, Celine is just so curious, she must think she knows you too!" Rito smiles as he shifts himself to eye level with the little girl, who has stopped at the edge of the yard to stare up at him with those curious, wide eyes of hers, green hair long and pink petals on her head as vibrant as the ghosts within his memories were.

"Hi," he states, waving at the little girl, "I don't think we've met yet." The girl merely laughs at him, while Mikan catches up with her and goes to grab her hand, to pull her back into the safety of the house, out of reach of a so-called stranger. He moves up and smiles at the grown woman in front of him, no longer the twelve year old he had remembered in his head, now a fourteen year old girl. And yet the scene was warm and comforting, though he knew logically he had never seen her, or the young girl before today. Yet in his heart he couldn't lie to himself. He was finally home. "H-hi, Mikan, hi Celine," he states, unsure once again, bashful as he brings his hands together and bows slightly, "You- you ay not remember me yet, but my name is Yuuki, Yuuki Rito, and I'm-" He was suddenly surprised as the little girl jumps out of Mikan's arms and into his, with some effort from Rito to catch her.

"Papa!" Celine states, as she snuggles into Rito's arms, "Papa is back..." He is a bit surprised that Celine remembers him, despite so long being away, and when he goes to hand her back and apologize to a no doubt distraught Mikan, he finds himself stopping at the sight. Tears trailing down her face, red puffy eyes and a face that speaks volumes for itself, and Mikan is in there, joining the hug Celine was giving him.

"Onii-chan," she states, breathless as she hugs him and Celine, "You're back... you're really back..." Rito smiles once more, reassured by this and knowing now that he, truly, was home now. And if he had it his way, he would never leave again.

 _Remember Rito, remember me._  
 _I'm here, Rito, find me._  
 _You're not too late..._  
 _She needs you!_  
 _Rito!_

Rito opens his eyes in shock, and he looks up. Floating above him, entwined in threads of red, is an incorporeal apparition. It was himself, blonde and younger, but it was another version of himself. With a ghost of a smile on his lips, the Other Rito smiles, while Rito traces where the imperial red cord seems to travel. He stops as he sees it wind around his sister's torso and end just at her chest level. He swallows then breaks the hug, handing Celine back to Mikan, smiling all the while. He sees that unlike every other red string he has witnessed so far, this one reminds him of the terrible nightmare he had not so long ago, and it causes his heart to drop into his stomach. This one, single red string ends where Mikan's heart would be. "Rito?" she asks quizzically, staring at her brother, "What's wrong?" Rito trembles, smiling as shakily as he can, while hugging his sister. Blinking, the apparition is gone, as is the red string piercing Mikan through her heart, something that satisfies Rito immensely.

"Nothing, Mikan, just the excitement of the day catching up with me," Rito says, smiling as he continues to feel her in his arms alongside Celine, "Everything is fine, its absolutely perfect, now that I have both of you back in my life!" Trying to forget the ghostly image out of his head, Rito focuses on the here and now, now that he was here with his family, he wouldn't have to worry about all these strange happenings anymore.

Of that, Rito was impeccably wrong.

 **A/N: I do not own To Love Ru.**

 **Suspenseful scenes anyone? Is this reality, is this fiction? I hope so since I am the one writing about it... Hope you all enjoy another befuddling chapt** ~̴͞҉̧̧#͟͞^̸͝͠ ̵̵͘^͢͟͟͞͞#̴̢̧̢͘&͟͞͝$̀̕͟*̷̨́%̴̨̧͜*̴̨́͢͟%́́^́͘#͡(̶͏̕҉ ̵̀(҉͏̀͡!̴̨̧͢

 ** _D̻̳̗̘̦̪͍̠̹̆̒̐̊͒̔̒A̰̘̖̥͓͒͂͗ͯ̍́̾r̰̫̥̖̖̞̘̓̇̎ͭK̰̖̼̹̆͗̽ͯͧͦ͑ͫn͍̯̣̥̙̋͐ḙ̘̳̐ͮS̹̖̓́ͯ́̾̌̅ͅs̟͔͙̘͈͇̣̘̏̔̅́̉̎ͦ ̖̠̞̬̭́ͬ̒͒ͩ̚ͅw͕̟͚̮͗ͨͮͧ͑̉Ỉ͈̻̗̳͎̞̺̙͚͊ͦl̝̫ͦͧ̚L͔̰̝̾̐͐̓ ̜̪ͬ̎̌̆̑̍m̬͚̣̤̝̘̜̑̅͋ͧͥA̻ͬͬK̥̦̬̤̓̓ȅ̖̬͐ͯ̑͋̊ ͍̟̲̳̪̓̋̈̒̏Y̜̹̪̲̎ͪ͋ͫ͒̿̓̌o̗̭̘̱̳͍ͩ̽ͯͅU̱̝ͫͤ͂̿͛ͯ͐ͧ ͇̮͈̰͚̩͖̾W͕̰̗̘̞̪͐̎̉ͬ͌͂̉͑ͅế͓̝̲͈̘̦͚̲̩̔ͤͭ̈L͕̥̾l̯̬̺̝̳͊̊_**

 _ **OoOoOoOoO**_

 _Dark side of the Moon_

The twisted wreckage of the once proud battleship, lay marooned inside the newborn crater it had made upon impact. Tendrils of darkness slowly crushed the ship in its grasp, having suddenly appeared to drag the ship to its doom. Half the ship was consumed by the living darkness, crushed beneath the massive tendrils and snaking vines, exposing sections to open vacuum, while pitiful shields tried to maintain a barrier of sparse light between space and the darkness. Those poor souls who had found themselves on the wrong side of the shields, were now lifeless husks settling gently onto the unseen craters and bed of darkness that would forever be their unknown graveyard. The few left alive inside the massive hulk, struggling to breath as air slowly leaked out, when shields fell and darkness only seems to grow stronger against the light. Inside the main control chamber of the ship, the last living crew member of the failed expedition had to live with his disgrace among the mocking field of vines and trailing shadows that seemed to grow out of the consoles and bulkheads, contrary to the lack of light that they should have been starved from. Despite all this, the flowers glowed like starlight against the darkness, as the lights of the ship failed little by little.

Among the broken consoles, shattered glass, and twisted metal walls, the lone warrior sat in his armor, meditating over his life and pondering his fate. Hearing the scrape of metal on metal, as the doors to last remaining pocket of the ship is forced open, a mighty roar is heard echoing behind him. Drawing his plasma blade, he hears the doors explode outwards, and quickly jumps in the low gravity, as a massive tusked beast charges under him. He pushes off of the malformed ceiling as soon as he hits it, and puts all of his strength into forcing the blade bewteen the stunned beasts shoulders, severing vital organs in the process and causing small splatters of blood to spurt out into the low gravity area. "Giga-Boar, Twilight Oblivion, you really know your stuff, imposters," Zastin states, flicking blood off of his burning blade, "But you are pretenders, pale imitations at best, and your very existence on this ship mocks my failure to do my duty..." Assuming a defensive stance, he watches as two shadowy figures enter through the cracked walls, taking a stance to observe their trapped prey.

The less endowed of the two, skin pale and oozing blackness from a hundred pinpricks in her dermis, pouts and moves her head to the point where her twin-tailed hairstyle is floating freely behind her. "Killing my Giga-Boar?" she states, a vicious smiles suddenly forming on her face, "I'm sorry Zastin, but that little toothpick won't keep the darkness from letting my precious creature die..." Stretching out her hand, the shadows seem to engulf the dead carcass, turning it black in the process, and Zastin watches as it seems to suddenly be filled with life again, its eyes turning poisonous purple against its black hide. Snorting, the undead creature gets back up to maul Zastin once more, but a sharp look from its master cows it and returns it to somewhere else in a purple flash of light. Turning to the other person, her sister nods and smiles at Zastin, who readies his blade.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this, Zastin really, in fact you could just not fight us," the short haired copy states, her own outfit revealing a sewn up gash in her stomach, kept together by a variety of thin, thorny looking plants that seemed to sprout black rosebuds, tendrils from the plant seemed to wrap and wriggle just beneath the surface of her own pale body, leaking the same black substance, "The darkness will take all your pain, all your fear away, it won't hurt, and you won't feel regret anymore.." She smiles so sweetly, her body looks pale but healthy, and for a moment Zastin thinks back to the girl who once carried that same look, before years of secrets and lies took the vitality from her long ago. Zastin feels something slip around his ankle, he feels a sharp prick in his veins, and in that moment the former head bodyguard of Deviluke has realized his life has already ended. He feels his body slowly get heavier, his head getting lighter, and his breathing laborious. "That's it Zastin, just a little bit longer," the woman says, as Zastin falls to his knees, the flowering vines infesting the ship now crawling up his body and forcing him upright, sprouting colorful, hypnotizing blossoms in cracks and creases in his armor, "Sleep, Zastin, let the darkness take you..." Zastin smiles, imagining the twin girls in front of him younger and happier, and for a moment his eyes fail him as he sees the ghostly visage of a girl who is surely dead standing behind them.

"Yes Zastin, join the darkness," the third woman states, taller and more mature than the younger two. She smiles and approaches the fallen solider, putting a hand under his chin and leaning down to give him a kiss to his forehead. Zastin knows he shouldn't feel as blessed as he does, but knowing she forgives him for failing her, it warms his cold heart, just before the poison stops it all together, ceasing his bodily functions in totality. "Soon, Rito," the pinkette states, pulling away from the now dead solider and turning to smile at the chaos sewn around them, "Find me soon, and we can be together forever, my beloved..." Walking back out into the now exposed section of the ship, she looks up to see the field of stars above her head shining clear and bright. One by one they begin to blink out, and with this knowledge, the woman gives a mirthful laugh as the starlight begins to die out in the night sky.

 _Darkness had finally turned its eye on the Light_

 ** _A/N: What- what have_** **I _done?_**


	47. To Stay With You

**A/N: I do not own To-Love Ru**

 _ **Well, how dangerous a game you are playing, Yuuki Rito. Perhaps it is time I step in at last.**_

Orange hair reflected behind glass walls, Yuuki Rito stared at himself in third person. He had never seen himself in more than a mirror, his memories were fragmented and focused on those around him, and only the occasional nightmare brought a distorted self image to life in his waking lucid moments. The frozen snapshots of a life forgotten, filed away between cardboard and glass, hung on nearly empty walls, or sitting under lamps, or left alone on forgotten, dusty shelves. Seeing the pictures of his life out in front of him, Rito almost couldn't believe he was the kid playing soccer, or the one building a snowman when he was seven, and his sister even younger. Mikan had broke out the school yearbooks from the closet, showing him dusty bound volumes of the various clubs, activities plays, and classes Rio had been in from early years up until his first year of high school. They tugged at his inner self, toyed with his memories, like he could feel them just under the surface being weighted down by something that forbid him from remembering.

Whether it was really amnesia, or some mental block that was all in his head, Rito was happy just to be home inside familiar, yet equally new surroundings. "Have you had dinner yet?" Mikan had asked, when he was digging through his middle school yearbook, looking at the pictures of the classes one by one, "Celine and I were preparing dinner, so it wouldn't be a problem making one more extra portion up, really!" Nodding eagerly, though desperately wanting to devour as many of the memories held within these pages, Mikan laughed as she watched Rito return to flip through the pages.

 _You know the answers are not here, Rito._  
 _You know what it is you came here for, so get it over with._

Rito ignores the voice in his head, angrily tearing through pages now, glancing for even a hint of a familiar face he could place. Something that he could remember, anything he could remember, as long as he couldn't focus on the haunting words his splintering mind were hallucinating.

 _Books won't break the seal on your memories._

Rito ignored that too, as he came to his class in the second year middle school yearbook. He had been looking for any clues as to what he did, and he found little mention of himself beyond the odd photograph where he was seen in the background, either watering plants, or helping the teachers outside of class and activities. Looking, scanning the rows of ramrod straight students on the steps of the school entry, Rito fond only the barest hints of recognition towards Kotegawa, Saruyama, Risa, and even Mio, besides himself. He found some hints of himself staring at a girl in some of the more candid shots, though in every picture he had seen of himself staring at her, her face was turned away and it was like he could picture her, yet the stupid amnesia pulled away at the faint threads he tried to piece together.

 _So do something about it._  
 _Find me._  
 _I can help you, despite what you think of me._  
 _This isn't a game, and I am not a hallucination Rito._  
 _I'm that missing piece of you, Rito; that gaping, yawning hole that you can't fill despite your vain efforts._  
 _You know who I am, you know how to find me._  
 _This isn't a game anymore..._  
 _We're both running out of time!_

Rito wants to ignore the words, yet somewhere deep in the pit of his being, he knew they were somehow true. He didn't know how, of course, yet the words seemed to sit heavily on his thoughts as he began to believe he could no longer deny it. The male Yuuki heir was either going insane, or he was equally crazy for believing that every word the imagined voice was stating were true. How he could hang on to every word and believe it without any proof was concerning, yet his options were slowly dwindling as he continued on. Though he had no clue why the voice insisted that he knew why he was there. He had merely wanted to come home, hadn't he?" There wasn't anything hidden here, not anywhere in the Yuuki household that Mikan or Celine couldn't have certainly had access to at any time or place of their choosing.

Rito had disappeared out of their lives, after all, how could he have expected them to do anything but wonder who this mysterious person in ever picture around the house was, when every memory of him had been wiped cleanly from their minds. Had they gone into his room, the one place Rito had ignored since coming back into his home? Despite the warm, welcoming manner his sister and Celine had welcomed him back with, Rito felt like a stranger here and unsure of where he could go without crossing boundaries. Closing the book, and rubbing his tired eyes, Rito finally admitted that despite his attempts to discover anything at all he needed to give up on searching for his lost memories for now. Not while the last two years of his life were equally forgotten, never once recorded or photographed as detailed as these tomes were, yet equally as empty and worthless to him, now that he was being truthful with himself.

Getting up and stretching his back, departing from the comfortable couch and the stacks of photo books on the living room table, Rito sniffs the air as a heavenly scent begins to waft in his direction from the kitchen. Organizing the books on the table before leaving them alone, Rito hastily made his way to find the source of the smell tantalizing his nose and making him drool. Making his way to the kitchen, as he remembered where it was, Rito began to have a slight feeling of deja vu, upon looking in at the kitchen before him. "Ah, Rito!" Mikan states, breaking him out of his daze, "I'm glad you are here, I'm finishing up some miso soup, can you grab some stock from the..." Rito was already at the cupboard, before she even pointed it out to him, pulling the requested stock from the same shelf he would have kept it on, and handing it to her. "...Thanks," she states,a little perplexed at how he knew what she was going to ask for, before turning to the pot at hand and adding a little more stock to the base, "I'd assume from the fact I didn't need to tell you where the stock was, or what kind I needed, that things are starting to come back to you?" Mikan waits for Rito's reply, but watches puzzled instead, as he opens doors, drawers, and even the refrigerator just to look inside.

"Everything's the same..." he states, looking around at the cupboards, swung open still as he had left them there, "This house... the food... the placing of everything, it's all the same." Mikan raised an eyebrow at that, when a dazed Rito turned to stare Mikan down. "She took it all from here, she made a mockery of my life, and all she did was change a few of the colors," he states, as he ignores the cooing Celine, who is staring up at Rito and laughing in her own childish sounding language, "Everything, the house, the food, the chairs... how did I not see it sooner, how could I be so blind!" He slams doors closed, one after the other, scaring both Celine and Mikan, the latter of which worried for her brother as he suddenly went from happy to frustrated so quickly.

"Talk to me Rito!" Mikan quickly commands, letting her ladle sit out of the simmering soup, resting on her hips along with her hands, "What's going on, what's 'all the same', I can't understand your reasoning..." Rito looks back at her, as if realizing for the first time Mikan and Celine are both actually there, and his perplexed look dies down to a confused, dazed glance, until he focuses back on Mikan fully.

"...Sorry," he finally admits, lowering his head a bit, "Uhm... where I was while I was gone... it wasn't what I thought it was; I was told I was being kept for my safety, when I was being kept for the other persons personal amusement, now that I realize it..." He puts a hand to his head, closing his eyes as he gathers the courage to say what he is about to to Mikan. "There was a... girl, I had been interested in, someone I'm trying to learn more about, and she had this sister..." He opens his eyes and stares down Mikan with a face that shows how hard it is for him to talk about this, "She was jealous, the sister I mean, and she thought it was a good idea to... cause an accident that gave me my amnesia, and worse, the loss of life for her eldest sister..." Mikan gasps in shock at that, covering her mouth, before staring out of the corner of her eyes at Celine. The child was still happily babbling about, completely content with the Book Rito had given her from Kotegawa upon his arrival to their house, and Mikan was satisfied enough to return to the conversation. "She made a place for me to stay, someplace she said was safe, and I never even realized until a few weeks ago, just how familiar, at home I really felt there... and now I know why," he states, as he walks over to the back door, where the sliding glass opens up into the backyard, Mikan can see his look of concern reflected in the glass, "She made it look like home, and I bet you everything else here is exactly where I expect it to be, give or take."

He turns to Mikan once more, and sighs as he tries to smile. "Is- is my room up the stairs, to the left?" he asks, and Mikan nods in response, confused as to why the question is important. Rito just clenches his fists at her reply, and gritting his teeth he turns around to gently smack the wall with a balled up fist. "Dammit! That girl took me out of my life just to put me into her own facsimile of it," he shouts angrily, "She 'didn't want to replace Lala'- I bet you she was secretly glad her sister was-" Rito falters, stopping from saying too much, and scaring Celine and Mikan more than he already was. "Sorry, sorry," he states, turning and apologetically trying to explain it, "There's just some things she made too personal, it seems, and now that I know I had a family here, I have a life I don't remember- it just sucks to know I was so close to discovering the truth all this time..." Mikan frowns at that, but ignores it and returns to making them all dinner.

"I wouldn't know what's in your room, if that helps," she casually states, staring into the soup as she gently watches the ripples she makes, "I haven't gone in there ever since you disappeared; I'd had been to afraid of discovering what was in there, to ever effectively try and really figure out who you were, Rito." Rito lifts his eyes up in surprise at that, then lowers his eyes and frowns.

"T-thank you, really, for doing all of this, I know how sudden it is to suddenly be thrown into a situation you weren't really expecting to come into," he states, scuffing his foot across the wooden floor, "You must have been so confused with Celine suddenly appearing in your life, that figuring out who that strange boy with orange hair wasn't as important as trying to balance school and a rambunctious little girl." Mikan looks back at Rito over her shoulder, eyeing him silently, but turning her head back and not saying anything in regret. "I think I better try and figure things out up there, then, if you haven't been in the room," he states, "At least if the bed is half as comfortable as the one I had been using- well, let's just say I think I know where I'll be sleeping tonight!" Chuckling, Rito goes to pull down some dinner plates, before Mikan stopped him.

"Don't worry about that right now, Rito," she states, as she comfortingly smiles at him, "Why don't you go open up the window to your room, since I bet a two year layer of dust needs to be exorcised from your room among a horde of monstrous dust bunnies!" Causing him to smile at the imagery, Rito looks into the sincere eyes of his sister, and realizes that food can wait for now, as she had given him the permission he so desperately had been craving.

"Thank you," he states softly, and Mikan's bright eyes never dim or waver as he turns to go towards the stairs, "I don't think I'll be too long, so keep the soup warm for me." Mikan nods, while Celine stares after him, laughing as he ruffles her hair flower and reaches out to try and grasp him in her tiny arms. "Sorry Celine, maybe after dinner I can play with you," he states, "I'll make that a promise." The little girl nods in agreement, before turning to Mikan and watching her, giggling as she turns through the pages of her books. Rito smiles as he turns away from the kitchen to head back to the stairs, before taking the long journey up the stairs and head for a room that could hold the answers inside it. He doesn't know why it seems so difficult to go up the stairs, his feet feeling like lead as he ascends every step slower than the last. Maybe it was the hesitation that he might find the answers he is seeking inside, maybe it's the fact he still feels like a stranger in his own home, despite the fact Mikan had practically given him permission to look into his own room. 'His Room', it didn't really feel like it, despite knowing this was his home, that was his sister and his adoptive child preparing for dinner down below, and that despite the gap in his memory, he had loving family that cared for him and tried to help him in his quest to remember the truth.

Stopping in front of the door, an old, weathered looking sign with faded writing on it informing him that it was, in fact, his own room. Taking a deep breath before entering, Rito gathers his courage and puts a hand on the doorknob, fully intent on opening it. Turning, then pushing the door in, Rito opens the door to the room that has been locked in time for two years, untouched by Mikan or any of the other family members that lived here. Surprised as he was when he opened it, the inside of his room truly shocked Rito, as he stepped into his room the reality of the situation became much weirder. "Are you sure no one has been up here?" He mutters to himself, looking around the room at every crack and corner, "It sure seems... clean." In truth, Rito expected layers of dust upon ever drawer or desk in the room, maybe some dusty sheets on his bed, clothes on the floor, maybe even books or other hobby items scattered around the room. On the contrary, the room was quite organized, bed neatly folded up and fluffed as if made for him, books set on shelves and free of dust or any sign of age acting upon any of the contents of the room. Rito approached his bed and touched the sheets, not feeling or seeing any dust as he pulls his hand away. He goes to check the window and finds it locked, as the door to his balcony is shown to be likewise after a quick check.

Taking a deep breath, just to check, he confirms to himself hat even upon opening the door, at which point dust should have been disturbed and cast into the air, there was in fact no dust beyond what could be considered normal. Sitting down on his bed once more, he decides to check his drawers, underneath his bed, his shelves, for any clues he might have left behind for himself, anything that could help him remember. Not finding anything more helpful than what is down stairs, Rito is surprised that despite having been untouched since his disappearance two years prior. Sitting in silence, Rito mulls over the possibilities that what he is seeking just won't be found, whether it is his memories or just whoever the mysterious voice is in his head. Lying back on his soft bed Rito closes his eyes and listens to the sounds around him, heart and hope both falling as he resigns himself to this cruel fate of amnesia. Creasing his forehead as he tries to ignore that constant humming in his ears, hoping whatever it is will go away. Finally it gets on his nerves so much, he goes to check and see if his balcony door is open, or whether it was his window that was slightly ajar and letting in the constant hum of electricity from the poles outside his house, or the sound of traffic through the city. Finding that neither door, nor window are the cause of the irritating sound, Rito looks to the light fixture above his head yet sees that despite not being used, the light is fine and not the source of the buzzing, and neither is his alarm clock, nor the wall clock.

Facing all three of the walls it could be, Rito is stumped at where the sound is coming from. As the sound doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon, Rito turns around and closes his eyes to focus on that annoying sound alone. 'It sounds like breathing,' Rito notices, listening as the indistinct humming becomes clearer, 'It's not exactly all one constant sound, in fact it seems like it is vacuuming, then spitting air back out like its exhaling...' Rito opens his eyes, as he realizes that the sound has stopped coming from all around him. He steps forward towards his closet door, now realizing that the sound was coming from directly in front of him. 'Here?' he thinks to himself silently, as he gently rests a hand on the door, not feeling anything, 'How could my closet be making this sound?' Puckering his mouth in frustration, he puts a hand to the seals on the outside of the door, not expecting anything. Instead of nothing, he feels the slightest sensation of air being sucked in, then blowing back out from the gap between the edges. "What?" he says out loud, as he puts his hands on the top and opposite sides of the closet doors, assuring himself that he is in fact feeling his closet breathe, "How the heck can a closet be alive..." Deciding he would find the answers inside, he grabs the closet door and quickly opens it, expecting either clothing or the answer to his inquiry. When he feels a cool blast of air escape the broken seal, what he finds beyond the doorway both shocks and surprises him, causing him to fall backwards onto the ground in mute awe. Stepping up and putting a hand forward, feeling nothing but open air and shattered expectations, the paradoxical uncertainty he feels finds itself solidifying.

Taking a step into the room that shouldn't be there, the darkened space alights at his presence. Closing the doors behind him, in case Celine or Mikan were to wander in and discover him staring into an impossible closet, Rito turns back around to face the room once more out of newfound curiosity. "How did you get here?" he asks the room, not expecting any answer from its echoing walls, "What are you?" Finding a console next to a pile of scraped parts, pieces of what look like half finished robots, and other inventive things, Rito touches the console's dimmed keys, which light up under his touch. As if exiting some kind of alien sleep mode, the screen bursts to life in a bunch of colors, while indistinguishable at first, the colors come together to form the symbol of Deviluke he had come to know very well on his journey to Earth. "This room... was it hers?" he asks himself, looking around at the pile of junk, the large device in the middle of the room, and finally at a small, floating pedestal that looks like it was some kind of triangular pill, "And what are you?" Walking toward the single shelf set against the farthest wall, nearby a bed, Rito finds a little sign written and hung on what looks to be a woven picnic basket. 'Precious Things', read the sign tacked onto basket. In it sat a purplish-pink rabbit that looked like it had better days.

' _No_ ,' thought Rito, as he picked the limp doll up in his hands and studied it closer, ' _It was designed to look this way._ ' He notices every stitch and bandage was identifiable against the outward seam, comically enlarged to make one think the bunny was some kind of stitched together monster. The mismatched eyes were supposed to add to this, as were the bandaged ears, arm, and legs opposite the 'sewn' on ones, with a little black bow under its right ear, with a dress that had a red circle with a strike through it, as if saying ' _No Angel Here_ '. Rito smiled as he held the doll, remembering that day fondly despite the stress it brought him overall.

OoOoO

 _The day ended with flying penguins in the aquarium, and it started with having to help an alien girl get appropriate clothing to 'blend in' on earth with. Mikan, thankfully, had been there to help him when Lala was in need of clothes, picking out perfectly fitting, stylish garments for her to wear, a skill probably picked up from their eagle-eyed mother Ringo, who had a knack for judging size and fitting models. Before the true chaos of the day began, Rito had found himself having fun hanging out with the strange girl that had intruded on their lives, but he had also remembered this day for another reason. It was the first time in a while that he and Mikan had gone out together as brother and sister on a day that their father didn't beg or blackmail them to help him, and neither of them had pressing schoolwork that close to the beginning of the school year. Playing the arcade games, winning prizes for Mikan, dancing, singing, having fun with shooting games, until he found out that Lala had really wanted the large rabbit doll from the crane game. "Thanks, Rito," the Devilukean girl had said when he had handed her the doll, all smiles and full of pride that his skills were appreciated. That was when Mikan had butted in with her unwanted comment._

 _"He's just good at these silly, little things," she had said, bursting his bubble and causing his face to fall upon realizing he had been enjoying himself too much. It had been when his feelings for Haruna had still been undecided, and he had yet felt the attraction, no, love towards Lala he now could feel._

 _"Thanks, Rito," she had reaffirmed, "I'll make this my treasure."_

OoOoO

At the time he had recognized that he had made her happy from the simple gesture, but it wasn't until know that he understood it. He remembered having seen it once before, remembering how he had acted out of anger towards Lala, when he had been having a stressful week at that time, how walking into this room and not finding her here, had devastated him when he found out that she had kept that silly toy from their first outing on Sainan. Now, as tears fell from his face while he was reminiscing, he could truly feel how empty his life was without her here besides him, without that gentle-

 _Thump, Thump, Ba-Bump_

Opening his eyes, brushing away the tears as he felt himself falter a half step, Rito looked all around him. Clutching his chest once more, he felt his heart still beating strong in his chest, the unusual feeling having passed as quickly as it came. Hands still gripped tightly around the rabbit doll, Rito swallowed to wet his dry throat, trying to not wring his hands in anxiousness from the passing, confusing feeling. "Rito!" he suddenly heard Mikan call out from the active console, which showed video of the kitchen and Mikan setting the pot of food on the table, "Dinner is ready... Rito?" Blinking upon recognition that his sister had been calling him down, he replaced the rabbit in its spot, then turned to leave the room for now. He felt hunger gnawing at his stomach, as he hadn't realized just how hungry he was despite his body protesting otherwise. Were he to notice the ring in his hand, the diamonds on his hands were aglow with more visible color. While they had been once clear, the orange diamond had begun to grow faster and deeper in color, while the pink had burned hot and lustrous in the presence of the memento, flashing like a beating heart, it stilled and began to cool once more. For now it would begin to dim, though Rito would never notice, as it returned to its lackluster clarity before he ever made it downstairs to the kitchen table.

OoOoOoOoO

Sighing in relief, as he patted his now full stomach, Rito smiled as he looked over to see Mikan doting on a messy Celine. The little girl was spilling soup out of her spoon once every five dips into the bowl, and Mikan was careful not to let the broth or spilled ingredients not stick to the girl, trying to save her from having to take yet another bath with the little, rambunctious child. "Stop squirming, Celine!" she commands, and the child stops eating, as Mikan wipes up the spilled contents with a wet washcloth and dabs at Celine's mouth and arms, "You little monkey, are not forcing me to take another bath with you tonight, so if you want dessert, I suggest you stop playing with the remainder of your food!" Giggling as she nods in understanding, Celine takes more care of herself, leaving Mikan free to finish her own half eaten plate of dinner, while Rito got up to wash his own empty plates.

"Thank you again for the food," Rito says, turning back to Mikan as he looks fondly over the table, "I know its hard to believe, but I think I'm beginning to remember everything a little bit more now..." He doesn't want to get her hopes up for getting her brother back all of the way to one hundred percent, but Mikan just seems happier to know that at least something is improving. Rito looks out at the moon to see the waxing gibbous moon nearly at its peak.

"I'm glad to hear that, Rito," Mikan states, as she focuses mainly on finishing her bowl of soup, "It's nice to have someone else in this big, lonely house again." Rito smiles, knowing that their Dad rarely came home from his own writing studio, mostly due to deadlines, and that their Mother, the famous Ringo Yuuki, dressmaker and modeling agent to the hottest stars, was equally away from home due to her work overseas. "I've been meaning to ask," Mikan begins, as she looks up from her bowl and focuses on the ring on Rito's left hand, "What is it with the ring on your hand?" Rito looks down, as if remembering that the strange ring was still there. "Not that I mean to pry," she states,slurping some broth, gently setting the bowl down and focusing on Rito, "Usually a ring on the left hand means you're either engaged to be married, or already done the deed; not that I've ever seen someone where a black ring as their wedding band, or engagement ring, I guess." Rito puts his fingers to the band, and thumbs the gems, looking down at them and trying to figure out an explanation that didn't sound crazy.

 _You're not crazy._

Rito looks up, and sighs as he decides his story. "The ring, well, that might be quite a story to tell..." he walks back to the table and pulls a chair out and sits down, crossing his leg and putting his right hand to his chin, "I'll be honest and say I... got it today, this morning in fact, in the downtown area, I think." Mikan raises an eyebrow at that, but Rito brushes it off with a nervous chuckle. "Well, you see, I don't think I was ever married with this ring, but..." he stares off for a second,a s if searching his fractured mind for any hint of where the ring came from, "I think... I think, I was engaged to someone, someone important, but my memories of it are all sporadic and out of order with what is there..."

 _I can help you Rito._  
 _You can remember it all._

Ignoring the voice, with a sudden grimace on his face, Rito opens his eyes to see a concerned Mikan. "Rito?" she asks, getting up and moving closer to him, "You just kind of spaced out there..." He waved her off, which caused her to look hurt in return Huffing and going over to Celine, who was finished with her food, she let the child get out of her chair and onto the floor. "Fine, if you're so sure you can deal with it, without my help," she states, "And since you've got two years of chores to make up on, then why don't you be a good brother and get the dishes washed?" She leaves with a scoff, followed by an unsure Celine, who looks between Rito and her mother figure, before trailing after Mikan happily. Rito just puts a hand to his forehead, as a sudden wave of dizziness overcomes him.

 _Look, its a Full Moon_

Rito blinks then looks outside to see that, indeed the moon is full, and that the stellar body was not in fact like that a few seconds ago, when Rito had last looked outside. Stepping outside to see if he was just imagining it, he saw that the moon was in fact full, in all of its bright, reflective glory. Going back inside, he hears a sudden scream from Mikan, which causes him to react and run up the stairs to find the cause of the disturbance. "Just stay there" he hears Mikan yell from her room, beyond the closed door, "Just wait and let me get you some clothes, before Rito finds you out!" Busting through the door, he finds a half naked Mikan in between dressing herself in her night clothes, and another figure he quickly turned away from. "Rito!" Mikan cries out, covering herself quickly, "Don't just come barging in here!" He feels a soft slipper hit him in the head, but he doesn't feel it through the blush at having just seen a nearly grown, pale teen with long, green hair, naked and barely covering herself with a nearby sheet she had grabbed off of the bed.

"Mau?" the girl states, "You've never reacted like this before, what makes Rito different, Mau?" The tone of the mature sounding voice is familiar to Rito, but he leaves the room and feels the door slam shut behind him.

"We'll be out in a minute, Rito," Mikan states, her body against the door as she locks it behind him, "I just have to find, uhm, Celine some clothes..." As she leaves it like that, Rito pieces together that the other teen in the room was, in fact, Celine. He blushes, having seen her petite breasts through the thin sheets, and her poorly concealed lower half sculpted to the sheet from sweat. Trying to rid his mind of those dirty thoughts that crossed his mind, recognizing that Celine was practically his daughter, he manages to calm himself down long enough to collect his thoughts. Just in time, too, as Celine and Mikan both come out from behind the locked door, Mikan twiddling her thumbs and looking to the ground, while Celine seemed genuinely happy.

"Ahh, Rito!" she states, grabbing onto his arm and hugging him excitedly, much to his embarrassment, "It's so good to see you again, now you can help Mikan take care of me too!" She winks and smiles at Rito, causing him to blush and become incoherent, losing all of his composure he had regained, as Celine laughed at his reaction. Suddenly Celine has grabbed Rito's hand, pulling it up to look at the ring on its finger, and it begins to warm in her hands. "What's this?" she asks curiously, looking at the brightly colored orange diamond, and the nearly clear-pink diamond, staring into the latter wistfully, "Lala-mama..." Mikan looks at Celine in surprise, as does Rito, before meeting Celine's gaze that now has a growing look of sadness on the plant-girl's face.

"Celine, whatever it is, it's ok!" Mikan states, getting up and close into her space wrapping a hand around her shoulders, "Tell me what's wrong, Celine, you know I can't help you if you don't tell me..." Celine let's go of Rito's hand momentarily, before breaking out of Mikan's grasp and throwing herself onto Rito in a massive, tearful, crying, snotty mess of a hug.

"Rito-papa, Mikan-aunty, L-l-Lala-Mama!" she cries, and the words seem to freeze Rito's heart, "I- I'm so sorry papa, you forgot, you promised-" Rito wraps his arms around Celine comfortingly, as Mikan joins the hug. "You- you promised, Rito-papa," Celine cries, "You don't remember what you're looking for, do you papa?" She pulls away, tear stained eyes looking up at him, before grasping his left hand and putting it between both of her hands. "It's okay, papa, really," she begins to say, as her hands begin to glow, "You forgot but it will all be over soon, you just need to remember, and I can help you do that!" Rito tries to pull his hand out of her grasp, as does Mikan, as the glow only increases. "You're keeping yourself here, Papa," she says, smiling despite what she is now doing, "You can't measure yourself by your regrets Papa, you'd never leave myself or Mikan alone, ever, so I won't allow you to keep yourself hung up on us." Rito feels nauseous as he tries to break her hold.

"Celine, Celine, stop that!" Mikan states, trying to break the grip she has over Rito's hand, "Celine, whatever you're doing, stop it!" Rito feels his hand begin to burn, the ring causing searing waves of pain to travel up his fingers, to his arm, to his heart. He feels his heart falter in his chest, and falls to his knees as Celine just stares down at him in pity.

"S-stop," Rito tries to weakly whisper out, "C-Celine, p-please..." Tears are falling down her face as she begins to glow herself, and Rito feels the most excruciating pain around his heart as it stops and causes him to lose his breath. The ringing in his ears, the pounding of his blood stops, and he gasps for breath as he feels his life begin to ebb away. Then the white flash of light engulfs him, and Rito feels his heart restart, though he is blinded by the light. When he can see again, as Mikan regains her sight from the disorienting flash, he finds all that is left of Mikan is withered petals that float to the ground and crumble upon contact. "Wh-what!" Rito cries out, reaching down to see if this was real or not, "Celine- Celine, NO!" Suddenly he feels the burning ring on his hand begin to bubble, his skin feeling as if it is hissing, popping, and he finds that a white aura is surrounding his hand now.

 _DO IT!_

Mikan is crying now, having fallen to her knees as she weeps over the ashen remains of her beloved daughter. "CELINE!" she cries out in disbelief, before turning to Rito in raging, bitter anger at her brother, "WHAT DID YOU DO?" Rito feels his voice fail him, as he views her properly for the first time since he could see again. The red string is back, this time he could see it tangled, knotted in her heart, weaving in and out in multiple places, and Rito realizes that his hand is moving of its own accord, before he can stop it.

"I'm sorry," he states, finally finding his words, "Please, forgive me."

Plunging his gleaming, white hand into his own flesh and blood sister's chest, he feels her gasp as his hand plunges through her rib cage. He can feel the ghostly impression of her lungs between his fingers, as she struggles to breath, gasping as he wriggles further, deeper into her chest. Rito knows something is wrong with him, he knows it so, but he finally feels his hands brush something inside her chest. ' _Her heart?_ ', no, it was something else, something hard, ' _Bone?_ ' Grasping it, tears streaming down his eyes as he watches his sister close her eyes for what could be the final time, he watches her skin turn pale before him. Grasping the item, tangled in something, the thread, whatever it is inside of Mikan's body, he knows it is unnatural. "Hold on," he tells Mikan, as he begins to pull, "It'll all be over soon, I promise!" With one final pull, he feels the cylindrical object dislodge from within her body, and he pulls as fast and as fiercely as he can to tear it out of her body, along with the string, he hoped. " _ **ARRAAHHHH!**_ " he yells, as he stands and pulls the item free of her chest, just before his hand can lose its pearly luster. Falling backwards, as he hears his sister suddenly gasp for breath unseen by him, he looks and finds the impossibly long item in his hand is a sword and scabbard. " _Oh_ ," he states, a she stares into the blood red crystal embedded within it, "That's what I forgot..." Expecting to hit his head, or fall down the stairs behind him, Rito is surprised when instead of accepting his poorly timed epiphany followed by possibly dying, he finds strong arms suddenly coming up from behind him and keeping him aloft in the span of seconds.

"I know you're a klutz, Rito, but you really can't help but make every girl lose their breath over you," a voice chuckles, "Not even your own sister is immune, ehh?" Rito stands, lifted up by whatever unseen person has suddenly appeared, but before he can think of finding out who that is, he focuses all of his attention on Mikan.

" _MIKAN!_ " he yells out, as he finds her lying on the ground, looking unconscious, but breathing by checking her pulse, "Mikan, Celine, no..." He looks down at this sister and finds the once tangled red string, still knotted but in tact and no longer emerging from her chest, on the ground in front of him. Deciding he couldn't stand looking at the mysterious lump of blood-red thread, he pulls the sword free from its scabbard and stabs down into the knot. The black blade slices cleanly into the knot, embedding itself into the floor in fact, but the effect of the action is immediate. The red string seemingly unknots itself, before dissipating before Rito's eyes and confirming that it was gone. Replacing the blade, Rito hears chuckling coming from behind him. Realizing he was no longer alone, Rito turns towards the stranger, ready to cut him with his newly acquired blade if it came to it.

Rito freezes upon seeing the mysterious stranger, who isn't as odd, or strange, as he begins to remember listen to the familiar sounding voice. "Welcome back, Rito Yuuki," Adam Yuuki states, the blonde copy of Rito states, "Glad to see you finally wake up."

 ** _OoOoOoOoO_**

 _Sairenji Residence_

A purple haired girl took a deep breath as she exited the shower. The heat from the scorching hot water had caused it to react with the cool floor tiles, creating a suffocating, humid steam that filled the entirety of the bathroom and obscured most everything within it. Tucking her towel around her wet body, the girl went to grab for her clothes, hoping the steam had not caused them to begin to dampen. Feeling satisfied after the young woman finished drying the majority of her body, she decided to leave her towel on the floor and put her underwear on, followed by her thin, lace nightgown that she knew her boyfriend would appreciate her wearing, having bought them specifically for their 'sexy sleep-over' nights. Happy that her sister was away for the night, spending her own evening with her boyfriend, the young woman decided to doll herself up before deciding whether or not she should call him over or not to spend the night. Wiping the steam from the mirror, as she goes to do her hair, the girl doesn't even notice the extra reflection in the mirror until it is too late. A smiling face covered by pink bangs, a scream of fright cut off by a choking gasp, and a body sliding to the floor, the purple haired woman had lost the luster in her eyes. Removing the black thorn from the woman's neck, having broken off when it was stabbed into her, she sees that the deed is done.

Dragging the body out of the bathroom and into a nearby bedroom, she takes sheets off of the bed and hefts the limp body of her victim into the bed, tucking her in to insure she was secure. Smiling as she looked down at her handiwork, wiping a bit of blood from the cut on her forehead as well, she leans over the bed to kiss her forehead as if wishing her pleasant dreams. "Good night Sairenji, when you wake the whole world will be different," she states dispassionately, frowning as she turns away to leave the bedroom, "Nothing can stop the darkness now..." Leaving the girl to restless dreams, black blood beginning to seep from her forehead wound now, poisonous darkness seeping into her as she sleeps, unaware of the changes within her.

 **A/N: Fridge horror anyone? Yeesh, maybe I should add Horror to the tags...**

 **I-I honestly didn't even expect this, and** _ **I**_ **wrote it.  
**

 **Am _I_ sure this story has a happy ending? **

**(O_O)**

 **Edit to Add: New Name has been decided, tell me what you think!**


	48. True (Cruel) Love

**A/N: I do not own To-Love Ru**

 ** _Rito.._. _Please, stop..._**

* * *

 _Red_

All Rito Yuuki could see around him was red, suffocating, thick, syrupy. Was it blood? Was it even real? Rito didn't know, and didn't care, all he could feel was his lungs burning as he held his breath, desperately swimming upwards to break free of the choking, foul liquid. He couldn't stand it, whether it was really or not, and felt with every sluggish stroke, every bubble of air escaping his deflating lungs, the darkness creeping at him from the corners of his eyes. Rito Yuuki was going to die, yet he struggled in vain to free himself of this fate. Finally, after what seemed like forever as his lungs were burning, Rito gasps for breath in the middle of a sea of red. Finding nothing but a black, sandy beach off the horizon, Rito defied his aching muscles and swam to the shore ahead, renewed with the knowledge that he could live. His heartbeat quickened as he realized there was another figure washed up on the shore, clothes stark white and pure even at a distance, despite obviously having drowned in the same sea of red that Rito now swam in. Finally hitting a point where he could crawl up on his hands and knees out of the thick, viscous water, as Rito preferred to think of it as a trick of the light rather than something undesirable. Collapsing not even a foot from the other person, the waves lapping at his feet as he lay out to dry on the burning, black sand. He notices the color of her hair is pink, and that revelation causes his heart to leap for joy, as he recognizes her build, sheepishly from her behind, and laughs in disbelief. He had found her, after all this searching within himself, he had found her!

Laying out on his stomach, as tired as he was, he dragged himself the final inches over to her, and gently tried to shake the sleeping figure awake. "Come on," he says, voice raggedy as his burning lungs protested with every word, "Lala, come on, wake up!" Whatever he said must have awoke her, as she groaned to life with her face away from him, shifting the sand beneath her as she tried to turn her head towards the source of her annoyance. "Lala, it's me!" he croaks eagerly as possible, "It's Rito!" He grasps at her left hand, noticing the black ring on her hand. He finds the pink diamond, strong and bright, yet he notices with a pang that his diamond, once orange and solid, seemed to be wavering, flickering from clear to very light orange.

"R-Rito?" she groans, sitting up and wiping the black sand off of her face as she slowly sits up, "I-it can't be..." She stares right at his smiling face, as he tries to move himself sideways, trying to force his own ring forward for her to see. "You can't be Rito," she states dejectedly, eyes turning downcast despite seeing the ring on his hand, "Rito is gone, so you can't be here..." Rito's smile falters for a second, before grabbing onto her hand and holding to it tight.

 _Thump. Thump. Ba-Bump._

His ring flashes pink, to the rhythm of her heartbeat, as her does with the color orange. "I'm here," he reassures her, "I'm sitting here, right besides you, ring in hand and alive, I swear it!" He gulps in more air, as he begins to feel tiredness creep into his bonds and drag him back down. "They said- they said you were gone, dead," Rito croaks out, tears building in his eyes, "But- But I knew you weren't dead, you were here, right by me, in my heart!" The look of confusion that crosses her face is long, and painful to watch, but its as if everything is as thick and slow to rise out of his mind and memories, like he was still swimming in the sea of red.

"Tha- that's not right," she states slowly, as her eyes brighten up and she clearly focuses on Rito, "No- no, that's not right." She scrutinizes Rito, giving him a once over, even locking hands with him and the hand that holds his ring. "You feel real, Rito, I feel your heartbeat, your pulse-" she hesitates, "But it can't be real-" She begins to cry, then slowly pulls away her hand, and Rito watches as she pulls away a spark of red light seems to flare to life between them, as it grows and entwines around both of their ring fingers, lengthening as she pulls away from him. "I'm not gone, Rito," she states simply, "You- you were the one who died..." Rito looks up at her, seeing the clarity held in her eyes, that hurt, the pain at seeing him before her. He feels his heartbeat falter for the merest, briefest, faintest of seconds, and he looks down as he feels the warm, syrupy liquid begin to drip down his shirt again. As he looks down at his wet shirt, he notices the growing stain accompanied by the gaping slit in his chest, right around the area of where his heart and sternum meet.

He puts a hand to his mouth, muffling a scream,a s tears begin to sting at his eyes. Pulling away, he feels blood at the corners of his mouth, and he begins to choke from the puncture wound in his chest. "Rito!" she begins to cry out, trying to grab him and lay him on her lap, "Rito, no, don't go; I'm sorry!" He feels her grip his hand, he feels the warmth of her body, of the burning in his ring as the string entangles her hand in his. "Please..." she weeps over him, as he watches too helpless to say anything, "Don't go Rito, stay with me forever, you promised me, you promised Mikan, you promised Celine you would never leave them..." She presses her hands to the oozing wound, trying to stem the bleeding. "Listen to me Rito, you're different, stronger, changed!" she cries, as if trying to bargain with him to stay, "You can't die from being stabbed, Adam can help heal you, just stay awake with me, you hear me, stay awake..." He feels the ghost of a smile on his lips, as they burn while he tries to smile up at her, trying to focus on her. "You stood up to Lacospo, Azenda, Bladix, you became a living weapon and the rightful wielder of one of the most powerful weapons in existence," she states as fact, crying now over and a confrontational tone rising at him, "You're my Fiance now, Rito, you can't die on me after promising to marry me!" He feels like he could laugh, if his lungs weren't slowly filling with blood, but he knows now that she is right. Rito knows he shouldn't be dying from such a wound, yet it seemed that with Creed literally having infused his essence with Zastin's body, the power of the living embodiment of his own sword, triumphed over his own abilities. It took an indestructible object to make a dent in another indestructible object after all.

He felt Lala trying to hold onto him, keep him grounded and alive until help could come, but he knew the truth was inevitable. Rito Yuuki felt himself slowly slipping away, as the red tide began to climb and cover his whole body now. Distantly he could hear her screaming, though the roar of the red sea crashing in his ears drown her out. He felt himself slip from her grasp, and dragged down with the undertow current, into the thick sea of red. The sea of blood had been fed by a weapon, and now it was calling for his own blood too. And so Rito Yuuki, age Seventeen, son of Saibai and Ringo Yuuki, brother of Mikan, Papa of Celine, Fiance of Lala, and inheritor of the Devilukean position of King, died on the floor where ancient Kings had held their seat of power in years past. Innocent blood shed on the sacred hall of memories, where Rito noticed the ancient paintings donning the halls ceilings, a forgotten relic of the past. He saw stories painted of Kings, betrayers, of Princes, of Outcasts, of Gods and Monsters. Of a man who weld a black stone in his hands, hefting it high above the others, leading men and women transformed into devils into battle against those forces with pink and black hair. In his dying moments, he saw the man, no the boy, stuck in the middle of a war, hands outstretched against both sides, as he protected those pictured beneath him, huddled together, afraid of the encroaching armies on either side. Rito saw the depiction of the beginning of the first, great Galactic War. And then he saw nothing but Red. And beyond that, _da̢͔̻͎̻̻͙͍r͙͕͟k̦̱̭̞̮͍n̰̩̬̥͈͍ͅe̘͇̪̜̥̪͡s҉̖̲̜͉̟͈s̘͉͉̟̜͍̲͞..._

 ** _OoOoOoOoO_**

Gasping awake, Rito finds himself sitting on the sheets of his bed sweating as he felt the images, no, the memories of his death burning in his mind, yet trying to fade away like a dream. "It's no dream, Rito," a voice says, and Rito turns to find Adam in his younger form, sitting on a chair and watching him as he sleeps, "That really happened, or at least most of it did; the last bit at least..." Rito looks down and finds the sword and scabbard sitting against the head of his bed, showing that the thing with Mikan and Celine hadn't been a dream.

"Celine..." Rito muttered, as he thought to the ashes and the distraught figure of his sister, as he literally ripped that... thing, from her chest, "What- is Mikan... okay?" Adam opens his eyes, and Rito sees him smirk so much like Nemesis would, it was uncomfortable to see.

"Yeah, I put her and Celine-nee to bed," Adam states, uncrossing his arms and sitting up from his slouching position, putting a hand up before Rito could speak, "Yes, Celine is fine, she just used up a lot of energy last night; I don't expect either of them to wake up until after we are gone." Rito sighs in relief at that, happy to know that something in his life hadn't gone wrong. "But-" and there it was, as Adam continued to speak, "It doesn't matter Rito; none of this really matters, and you know it." Adam stands up, grabbing his own shadowy blade and scabbard, clipping it to his side as he forces Rito to get up and change, tossing clothes into his hand. "Can't you feel it, Rito, the beating of your heart in your chest?" he states turning around to allow Rito to get dressed in new clothes, "Your real heart is beating again, Rito, outside of this mental prison you've somehow locked yourself in..." Rito pulls his shirt over his torso, adjusting his pants before placing his socks on.

"Here?" Rito asks, "Aren't we at my house, our house, on Earth?" Adam turns to Rito with a serious look on his face, while Rito clips the scabbard to his belt, setting the sword inside it to a position it won't get in the way. "We're home, I'm alive and Lala is dead, Adam, and you didn't even exist until last night; neither did this damn ring!" he yells exasperatedly showing his hand, as Adam coolly waits for him to stop, "So forgive me if I think this is all a little too darn crazy for me to believe that this whole 'life' is fake; especially after I pulled a freaking sword out of my Sister's heart!" Adam crosses his arms and stares Rito down, as the young man simmers down.

"I understand your confusion Rito, but we don't have the necessary time to argue here," Adam states, as he puts a hand to Rito's neck and then to his own pulse, frowning as he does so, "I can feel your heartbeat slowing down, and I can feel my own beginning to slip beats as well." Rito looks at him like he is mad, putting a hand to his neck to check his own pulse, just to show this was all too crazy.

 _-ump. Thump. Ba-Bump-_

Rito widens his eyes, as he feels his normal beats per minute having slowed down. Adam smirks at the fact that Rito's disbelief is showing on his face. He sits down, a little shell shocked that he was arguing with a figment of his own imagination. "I'm no figment," he says, as if reading Rito like he would a book, "This isn't real, like I said, you're not really here, and neither am I fully here." He drags his chair so he can be across from Rito, sitting down and staring him down. "I should say, I'm only about thirty three percent here, whereas you, Rito Yuuki, would be about sixty seven percent here..." Rito nods as the kid talks, though he doesn't know if he really understands it, "You died, or very nearly died, and what you are experiencing right now is something equivocal to a personal, parallel reality being created for you right before your eyes." Rito blinks, then begins to laugh, until Adam's blank stare brings him back to an uncomfortable silence. "The Pearl of Wisdom, alternatively the White Taoist's Pearl, is a cosmic artifact born from the regrets and souls of its creators, the Taoists, who recognized their inevitable fate during the conclusion and aftermath of the first Great Galactic War," Adam sates, "You do not remember it, but you have interacted with the Black Pearl of Power, which enhanced you to a state of being higher than that of a 'normal' human." Adam closes his eyes and crosses his hands to bite his thumb in indecision.

"The Pearls- they are each unique in their own ways, as the Black Pearl allows their user to fundamentally alter their body to the point they can become a 'perfect' physical specimen of their race," Adam says, sighing, "Whereas the White Pearl allows the user to shape reality to their whim, essentially becoming 'God' and allowing them to recreate the universe as they see fit." Adam stands up at this point, putting his arms behind his back and pacing the room. "Except, except- the user cannot retain their sense of self once becoming 'god', and any attempt at recreating themselves is attributable to an artist self portrait proclaiming itself to be the artist," Adam wrings his hands at this, and he turns back to face Rito with a grim look, "Since you are the focus of this reality one should assume that you, in fact, are not the real Yuuki Rito, and yet you contain all of his memories of the previous universe that you had hidden within me; before 'you' hid me in the one person you could trust above all else to view you as your real self- your sister, Mikan Yuuki..." Putting his hands to the side of his head and groaning, Adam rings his fingers into his scalp and even draws blood that shows up in his blonde hair. "This whole situation is impossible, Rito, as facts and events that did not happen in reality, have been unraveling before you in ways that shouldn't be possible, as if you are in fact the 'real' Yuuki Rito, are in actuality rejecting the reality that is being-" Adam suddenly trails off, as an epiphany suddenly dawns on his face, "-created for you, this reality, Rito, is being created for you!" Adam suddenly tosses the chair aside and puts his hands on Rito's shoulders, shaking him viciously.

"Rito, you can't be 'god' in this situation, because an artists self portrait cannot be the artist, yet the fact you are here enforces that you are not a self portrait, but are clearly the subject, the focus surrounding this new reality!" Adam's crazed ramblings aren't making sense now, yet he assumes that it must make sense to him, "You can't reject this reality unless you are really here, and you are really here, since you 'died' in our true reality, the Pearl was then used to remake reality, with you as the focus, but something, or someone, must have shaped the new reality around you, and that someone couldn't have been you, because you are subconsciously rejecting this new reality in favor of the old, true reality." He touches the ring, and suddenly the red string becomes visible to him, a single red string that stretches out into the world beyond the room. "I wondered why these strings of fate, of love, or- or destiny, have suddenly become visible to you, and to everyone else," he states, as he plucks the string, making it vibrate, "These aren't strings of fate, or strings of love, they're tethers, Rito, they are what is keeping you locked into this reality, because these seven strings have had to do with the people that act as your strongest emotional anchors." Adam lets him go, stepping back and putting a hand through his hair in realization. "My god, Rito, its drawing on something so common, so ingrained in your people's stories of love and emotion, that it made it reality, a universal constant," Adam sits down, floored by this realization, questioning everything, he then turns his focus back on Rito, "Rito, if you've faced six of the seven tethers keeping you here, if you manage to severe them all... you could undo everything, you could go home, undo your death even..."

Rito stands up and walks over to Adam, before grabbing him by the hand and forcing him to stand up. He doesn't know why but seeing Rito's face as blank as he sees it, unnerves him greatly. "Are you saying, all these people I've been rejecting were here to keep me down, Momo, Nana, Run," Rito states somberly, "Even Kotegawa, Yami, and Mikan, they were all just obstacles to keep me here, happy and unaware?" Adam nods, and he waits to see how Rito reacts, noticing the older Yuuki sibling gripping his knuckles and turning them white with rage. "Alright," he says calmly, as he holds up the ring with a single red strong tied to it, "If I do this, if I go back, reject this last love of my life in exchange for dying on some tiled floor on an alien planet... do you think I could remember everything, remember who it is that still is missing in my life?" Rito hadn't said anything to Adam since he had remembered more chunks his missing life, but the Trans symbiotic life form knew that Rito still had a whole chunk of certain memories missing. Memories that were also missing from Adam as well, pieces that he knew kept him from being of any help to Rito as he had only access to what Rito knew, and what he couldn't or chose not to know, he extrapolated from his surroundings.

"Haruna Sairenji," Rito suddenly said, breaking Adam from his thoughts, "If we're going from least to greatest, it makes sense that Haruna is my greatest anchor..." Adam blinked at that, until he recognized what exactly Rito was implying. He had been cutting emotional ties, regrets that kept him anchored to this reality, from order of least impact to most. Rito had the least amount of baggage with Momo, as he had made his feelings towards the youngest Deviluke sister evident with the whole situation that had led up to this. Nana, equally, had little impact or regrets focused around her, as Rito's own tenuous stance regarding the middle child of Deviluke was try not to get in her way, and apologize to her even if it was an accident. Yui Kotegawa had always been a source of strife for Rito these past couple of years, already thinking Rito was a poor moral character, she did warm up to him, but mostly kept her distance and feelings contained within her. Secretly Adam wondered if Rito had begun to suspect that his friend Kenichi harbored feelings for the strict morals officer, as his own 'perverted' nature seemed to mature over the summer, resulting in his friend insisting in helping him 'break up' the harem plan.

Adam knew that Run had been a focal point, a perilous fulcrum balancing between love and hate, reflected in his relationship between herself, Ren, Rito, and the eldest Princess of Deviluke, something ever shifting but cemented in his mind as firm. Yami, contrarily, had become more prevalent a pestering thought in Rito's head, as she and her sisters threatened Rito's life on a daily basis, and possibly have been the straw that broke the camels back regarding Rito finally dealing with his feelings, his nature, and even his relationships with other girls, having been the most controversial impact on Rito's psyche. Mikan could be considered a rock that he could firmly be centered upon, both for familial life and amidst his chaotic daily struggles as prospective candidate to an innumerable gaggle of girls, despite her own callous attitude she has occasionally show towards him, Rito knew her own kind of love would anchor him. Now that it was Haruna Sairenji that was identified as the last tether, both Rito and he would have to figure out just what it is that he regrets, if he is to cut himself free. While the fact she was his first love was the greatest argument for being an anchor, it shouldn't be the strongest, at least not where regret was concerned. Unless...

Rito stands up and walks towards the door, leaving Adam hurrying after him. "Rito, where do you think you're going, we don't know where Sairenji is!" Adam states, struggling to put his own copy of his sword back in its scabbard, "She could be anywhere here, she could even not be anywhere in Sainan, Rito, just stop and think about it for a second!" Rito stops at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at Adam and causing the blonde clone to stop.

"Adam, it's time you realize that you aren't really here either; we both should know that by now," Rito states, as he offers a hand out to the little copy, "I'm here because I died, but you can't have, since you merely inhabit my body and sword." He pauses at those words, looking down at himself for a moment, before staring tearfully down at Rito with a smile. "You're probably killing yourself just staying here, am I right?" Rito asks, "Just stop hiding the truth from yourself, from me, 'cause I need you to be honest with me now."

"So, you finally figured me out, eh, Rito," he states, as he puts a hand to his head and begins to chuckle, "I t-thought I nearly had you there... I just wanted to s-stay around, and help a little bit longer-" Suddenly overcome with a look of pain, the knees of the dark matter clone buckle, as he begins to melt back into the shadows, falling down the stairs and coming to rest at Rito's feet. "Y-you're right though, you need to be w-whole, and I can't h-help you anymore it seems," he begins to reattach to Rito, melding back into him and making the incomplete Rito nearly whole once more, ' _I c-couldn't keep my f-freedom for long, but I left just enough of myself to free yo-_ ' The experience, the feeling of Adam being there evaporates like water, and Rito is alone with his thoughts now. He smiles, knowing that his friends, his family, are waiting for him to come back to them. Turning around to exit his house from the front, he is stopped by the appearance of his brunette haired younger sister.

"Rito, please don't go..." she states, her bangs hiding her eyes as she stands her ground in front of the door, "I don't want you to go and leave us, Onii-chan!" Rito smiles, as he watches her tremble, sobbing escaping from her every so often, ever so quietly. Celine, restored and a child once more, is hiding behind Mikan's legs and looking between her mother figure and her Papa with uncertainty.

"It'll be alright Mikan, Celine," he states, as he stoops down to hug both child and sister close to him, "I'll be alright, and you know I'd never leave you all together." He feels Mikan's tears like they were real, hot and wet on his shoulders, while he feels Celine's soft hair draping against his legs, her little arms squeezing around his leg in a hug. "But I can't keep lying to myself, not when I'm still missing someone very important to me, something very important to me," he states, "I have to find Sairenji, and you can't stop me anymore than this, I can't have you both trying to keep me locked into a world that I've already burned plenty of bridges with." Mikan stops crying, and pulls away from Rito, eyes red but nodding as she gently detaches Celine from her brother's leg. "Don't worry, by the time this is all over," he states, opening the door and walking into the bright sun, "We'll be together again, I know that..."

 **OoOoOoOoO**

 _ **Stop Rito, you don't know what you're doing...**_  
 _ **Very well, if you won't stop for your family...**_

On the dark side of the moon, where the animated bodies of the former princesses of Deviluke and their loyal bodyguard stand waiting for orders in the vacuum of life, an order is given and the three open their eyes as one. In a single flash of dark light, the three are gone from the lunar tomb, leaving behind one final figure who stares up at the shining beacon of light and hope above her head.

 _ **Rito, if you will not accept this new reality, I will force you to!**_

 _ **OoOoOoOoO**_

Finding Haruna's old apartment with her sister wasn't as hard as it had been now that most of his memories were restored now. While he had no basis to believe his former crush still lived in the same apartment she had years ago, he knew it was still a possibility. Walking up to the door and noticing it looked the same as it had years ago, he smiled as he knocked on the door, hoping that above all that Haruna still lived here, making his decision easier. The door opened to a head of purple hair, and as his hopes were rising, they were dashed to pieces when he found that it was not Haruna who answered the door. "Hello?" the woman asked, clearly taller than Haruna, and looking him over as he stood in front of her, "I'm sorry, can I help you?" Rito smiles and finds his mind going blank, trying to figure out exactly what to say now that he had no excuse.

"I'm sorry, I was looking for Sairenji Haruna, I was told I could find her here..." Rito states, as the girl crosses her arms to stare Rito down, "I'm- I'm sorry if this is the wrong address, I just- used to be in her school years ago, I just wanted to find her and ask her some questions..." Rito blushes as the woman remains unimpressed with his story, Rito blushing under her scrutiny. "I- uhh- I-uhh, ha-have a-amnesia, and Haruna was one of the g-girls I knew," he lamely states, blushing madly, "I've been trying to-to get to know people from be-before the accident, and everyone says I used to have a c-crush on her in our f-first year." Smirking, as if hitting the jackpot, the girl turns away from Rito towards the interior of her house.

"Haruna, someone claiming to want to confess their unresolved feelings of loneliness and regret is making some ridiculous excuse about having amnesia to find out if you live here!" she yells casually into the room, before looking back over Rito for a moment, then turning back again, "He isn't too bad looking, sis, so don't dis him until you see him for yourself..." Turning back to wink at Rito, he merely blushes furiously as the older woman is violently pushed aside by someone much younger.

"Nee-chan, don't just go yelling stuff out like that!" she says, blushing furiously while pushing her smiling sister back into the room, "And go clean up that mess in the kitchen I hear you making!" Turning out to look at Rito, she pauses as if noticing that he was there for the first time, sheepishly she smiles at him and looks him over, eyes straying to the scabbard and sword at his waist. "I'm sorry about her... she's desperate to pair me off with guys right now, even though I told her I already have someone in mind!" she yells that last part into the apartment, Rito graciously ignoring it as well, before Haruna turns her attention back to Rito, "I don't think I recognize you, what was your name again?" Rito chuckles and gives a slight bow of his head.

Before Rito could say anything, Ahiko Sairenji was back, coughing to interrupt the two before they could go any further. "Sorry kiddos, but Yuu just emailed me about meeting up for lunch with his family, so sorry sis, but I'm going to have to duck out on this sweet little reunion," she states, squeezing past her startled younger sister and winking at Rito, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do; oh, and sis: the third box on the left in the cupboard~!" Rito watches confused as the well dressed woman suddenly disappears, laving two teenagers behind. He turns back, awkwardly staring at Haruna, who suddenly has a fierce blush on her cheeks as she stares back owl-eyed at where her sister had stood. Deciding to announce his presence again, this time a bit more relaxed and confident, Rito clears his throat to catch her attention and introduce himself properly.

"Rito Yuuki, we were classmates in Middle School, and First Years together at Sainana High," Rito states, "I- I actually do have a bit of amnesia, y-you see, and I've been reconnecting with people I went to school with- I know Yui Kotegawa, and Kenichi Saruyama, for instance." Haruna widens her eyes in recognition of the names, so Rito plays another gambit. "I also knew Momioka Risa, Sawada Mio, Run Jewelria, Lala Satalin Deviluke, and Yami-" The younger Sairenji sister suddenly steps out of her door and forces Rito against the outside of wall, putting an arm out to block him from going anywhere. Rito can't help but focus on her jiggling breasts, the surprising strength she used to force him in this position, and the look of her soft, luscious red lips so close to him, despite never having been able to stand within three feet of her without all semblance of reason leaving his speech.

"How do you know that name?" she threateningly growls towards Rito, but despite himself he can't help but think how adorably sexy she is while trying to intimidate him, "How do you remember her!" Rito blinks, trying to figure out who 'her' was, despite his instincts screaming at him that he knew the answer already. "How do you remember Lala, when no one else on Earth, including my sister, cannot?" she asks, as she pins him against the wall with her other hand, moving closer towards him. If he could feel his brain melting, his sanity slipping, he would have died and been the most happiest he had ever been, until the fact that this was all a distraction from the truth crossed his mind.

"I-I was kidnapped by her sister two years ago, who proceeded to wipe the world's memories of myself and Lala using an invention of hers, then made me think I was in love with her instead of her sister," Rito answers as honestly as possible, "I've found out the last two years of my life have been built on a lie, and managed to make it home with a third sister's help, and now I'm trying to regain my lost memories." He kept the fact that he was also here to resolve any untoward feelings and regrets he had for her, so he could recreate reality back to the way it was meant to be, to himself. "Haruna- you remember Lala, do you- do you remember me?" he asks hopefully, testing her memory, 'Rito Yuuki, Class 1-A,' maybe you have a yearbook, or something..." Haruna steps back, letting her hands fall to her side as she shakes her head.

"Ever since a strange dream I had last night, I've been flooded with memories of this girl, Lala, even though I feel like I should know her, she's vague," Haruna states, as she walks back to her open doorway, Rito following behind her, "I think- I think I still have the photo book from year one here somewhere... you can come in too, Yuuki..." The fact she uses his last name disheartens him a little bit, yet he knows it almost is better that way. She had enough to deal with if she was getting assaulted with memories of a paradoxical girl that his own memories are fuzzy at best at remembering, beyond the outline of a girl with pink hair like her sisters, and an adorable robot that had tried to kill him when he reactivated her on Deviluke. Following Sairenji into the main room, where her sister was eating a grape popsicle due to the summer heat, Rito smiled as Ahiko Sairenji gives him a smile and a thumbs up. Blushing as Haruna pulls him along into her room, he realizes just how clean the place is, and how it is lacking the familiar pressence of a lovable, furry companion that tickled the corners of Rito's mind.

"What happened to Maron?" he asks absently, as Haruna is getting under her bed, pulling out a small box of items that seems to hold old school memorabilia, "Wasn't he only a couple of years old?" Haruna looks up at him for a moment, distracted as she had been riffling through the piles of paperwork and other school grades she had saved.

"I- how did you know we had a dog?" she asks, looking up at him strangely, and Rito blinked, before rubbing his neck sheepishly, "We lost him a year ago, he just ran away for some reason when I had to move to my parent's house for the summer, though I still think my sister gave him to a pound..." Rito coughs, and Haruna calms down a bit, her face softening as she pulls a picture of Maron from the pile. "I'm sorry, you said you knew me, of course you knew I had Maron then too," she states, "Losing him- it was like losing a family member, it still hurts even months after I gave up looking for him..." He nods in understanding, remembering how the proud, little Boston Terrier took to defending Sairenji whenever he was near, wanting to please her. Finally Haruna pulls out a stack of photos, from Middle School to her Second Year at Sainan High. He went to grab the latter picture, but Haruna stopped him, holding onto it tightly. "Sorry, this one- it holds specific memories I'd rather not share with you," she states, putting that one over on her desk, before returning to hand Rito a Middle School photo, "Besides, you said we were only in the same class in First Year and Middle school, I think I'm due my own secrets." A little hurt that she would allow him access to her photos, he acquiesced, knowing that he was still a stranger to this Sairenji, and that he needed to still earn her trust.

Opening the pictures, Haruna was looking over his shoulder, as he pointed himself out. "See, there I am," he states, pointing to himself and then to Haruna, and Haruna stares in amazement at his presence in the photo, "This was the year you stood up for me, when everyone else at school accused me of trampling the gardens, you told everyone I was kind, and that the school knew it was a dog that dug up the flowerbeds..." He smiles as he remembers that memory,a s if a new jigsaw puzzle piece was given to him and filling on more of the gaps, as he looked through a few of the other photos she had. He found the First Year photo, and pulled it open with trepidation at what he would find inside it. "Look, there's me, there's you- here's Lala," Rito states with a fond smile, Ren standing above her, trying to force his way into standing next to the oblivious princess in front of him, held back by others in the class, "She was so pretty here, she wanted to fit in on Earth too, and she made friends with you, Risa, and Mio right off the bat, she was liked by almost everyone at school too..." Smiling at the photo too, Haruna stands up and heads for the door.

"How about some snacks and tea, then we can talk more about Lala-chi," Haruna suggests as she goes to the kitchen, "I want to learn more about her, and about you Rito, since I can't remember any of this..." As she leaves to get the snacks, Rito waits to see if she would check back in, before slowly getting to his feet and sneaking over to the desk on the other side of the room. He stares down at the closed binder holding the photo of their second year class inside it. It shouldn't be of any consequence to him, since as Haruna had stated, he had only gone to school with her up to the First Year. Yet the need, the itch to sate his curiosity, only grew the longer he stared at its mesmerizing bindings. Hoping Haruna would forgive him, Rito takes the leap of faith, and opens the book in front of him, revealing its contents to him. Staring down at the photo, he hears someone walk into the room, let go of the plate of snacks and tea pot, spilling its contents everywhere and leaving soaked snacks spoiled by the boiling hot water. "You couldn't help yourself, could you Yuuki Rito," Haruna states, as Rito just keeps staring in disbelief at the photo in front of him, "Why, why did you do it?" She looks down, her hair flowing into her face and covering her expression, as she steps forward and closes the door behind her with a click. Despite having admitted never seeing him before, not remembering Lala, or any of his other friends, the picture before him gave him the shock he needed to finally complete the missing pieces of the puzzle that were his 'true' memories.

Among the steps of Sainan High, stood Class 2-A, all in various states of chaotic and highly unpredictable actions that normally wouldn't be used in this kind of picture. Rito stood in between Lala and Haruna, with Run trying to force herself in behind Rito, with Kotegawa holding her back, and Risa and Mio standing on Run's other side. Behind Lala, on her free side, opposite of her hugging a blushing and confused younger version of himself, was Ren, who was standing next to a glaring Saruyama. The whole class of 2-A was in the background as normal, ignoring the chaos within in favor of taking a proper picture. This was a picture that shouldn't even exist in this version of reality, considering he hadn't even been here when this picture was taken. Noticing something in the reflection of the photo, Rito jumped back just as a Tennis Racket came down fast and hard onto the book, tearing into the picture from the force. "Sairenji, what are you doing?" Rito asks, back peddling on his hands away from the angry tennis player, as she aimed for his head, "Why are you attacking me?" Blocking some savage swings with crossed arms taking the brunt of the powerful, painful swings, he notices for the first time a bruise on her neck, that he hadn't noticed before. "Sairenji, what-" Before he can say more, she swings once more and breaks her tennis racket as she misses and hits the floor with it, falling over herself in the process. She growls and gets up on her hands and knees, staring at him with an almost feral expression crossing her face.

"Haruna, what is going on with you?" he asks as she lunges for him, while he pulls the blunted end of his hilt out and crosses it with her temple, "Sairenji!" He leaps up to his feet and goes to hold her down, hoping he had only knocked her out, and that whatever it was causing her to act out was over. Feeling her pulse, he noticed it was slow, sluggish, but there, so he chose to look at the bruise on her neck. Seeing that there was the barest hint of a thorn in her neck at the center of the bruise, leaking black, he knew something had happened to her because of him. "No, Sairenji, I didn't mean for it to end up like this," he states, grabbing her hand and crying into it, "Dammit, all I wanted to do was ask you to forgive me, forgive me for not being there when you needed to tell me something important..." He feels tears pour out of him as he speaks, wet spots hitting her on the face as he lets them fall. "You could have told me you were moving, I could have had time to process you leaving, we could have made things work-" he states, as he bitterly reminisces of the fact she had up and disappeared from his life, "We could have left on good terms, I could have actually got to say goodbye to you, and I wouldn't have been regretting the past six months of my life it took me realizing just how stupid I was not to notice how much I truly loved Lala without you around!" Blinking the tears away as he forced his eyes opened, he noticed Haruna staring up at him, crying herself as if the words he had spoken had really meant something to her.

"R-Rito," she states, lifting her left arm up and brushing it across the side of his head, "I-I didn't know it hurt you that much..." Rito sits back and lets go of her, allowing Haruna to sit up and stare him down, as Rito looks away in embarrassment. "Look at me, Rito," she states, grabbing for his hand and rubbing her fingers over his, "You can't keep holding yourself back because of me-" She stops, blushing and looking down before returning her gaze to his own. "The sad fact of life is that we grow up, we drift apart sometimes, but we still remain friends," she states, smiling, "Maybe we were never meant to be lovers, Rito, we were first loves, sure, but our hearts are made to heal, our love is meant to grow, not remain bottled up forever..." Haruna leans in, her luscious lips looking as if they were tauntingly going to lock with his own, before she diverts and pecks him on the cheek chastely. "I- I wanted to tell you, Rito, I fell in love since I left Sainan, and with the strangest person I ever could have met," she states, and Rito is genuinely smiling for her as she bares her heart to him, "It's actually Ren, he moved away from Sainan to get away for a year, to actually try and get over Lala, and get away from Run; he finally accepted that you and Lala were just meant to be..." Rito laughs at that, breathlessly smiling as he lets go of Haruna and falls to his back on her floor, followed by Haruna who lays back down.

"We're idiots, aren't we Haruna," he states, staring up at her ceiling with her, "If we weren't so emotional, if love wasn't so hard to express, do you think we could have come to the realization we weren't meant to be together sooner?" Haruna giggles, nodding along with him, and closing her eyes.

"Don't get me wrong Rito, I still like you as a friend, and I still think Lala is my friend, but-" She lifts her hands up towards the ceiling, staring at them both, "No, I don't think we would have ever worked out as lovers, as husband and wife, not with everything that's gone on since Lala appeared in our life." Rito smiled, and nodded in return, lifting up his left hand and letting Haruna fully see the ring on his hand.

"Yeah, I think you're right, and I'm glad I got to tell you this here, now, but I know that there's another Haruna, another life out there, that I need to do the same with," he states, and he feels the burning rush of energy in his hand alight once more, the red string that binds him to Haruna lighting up and illuminating its twin on her own finger, "I'm glad to know I can say these feelings out loud, that I can acknowledge them, and let them go..." The red string on Haruna's hand suddenly untwines from her finger, and an invisible weight is seemingly lifted from his shoulders. He breathes, and for the first time, as a whole person once more, Rito feels that everything is finally right with his life. "I'm sorry Sairenji, I think I need to go now," he states, as he looks out of her window and sees dark clouds forming in the sky around them, "Goodbye for now..." Leaving her room, and a breathless, smiling Haruna behind, he can't see the tears that trail after him.

 _ **OoOoOoOoO**_

Rito is standing in the middle of the road when the clouds that darken around him finally break, revealing three streaking meteors of black heading for him. He pulls the blade from his scabbard and holds it aloft with practiced ease, while adjusting the bag on his back to keep it from slipping. As the three objects crash to earth, leaving craters all around him, he watches the dust settle from impact. Three horrid monsters, mockeries of life, lift themselves from the ground to reveal themselves to Rito: Momo, with her stomach cut into and leaking shadows, Nana, looking more like an oozing pincushion, and Zastin, who looked and moved more like a stiff marionette than a solider, with the vines and flowers poking out of ever crack and crevice of his armor. "Hello Rito," Momo states, smiling wickedly at him as she drags herself forward, "Did you get left out in the cold by your 'true love', come back to beg our forgiveness and be mine eternally now?" The reanimated corpse spoke like her, moved like her, looked like her, but Rito knew the woman speaking now was not, nor was it ever, Momo. The same went for the shadowy caricatures of Nana and Zastin.

"No, I came to ask to see Lala, you three just happen to be in my way, no doubt," he states, as he twirls his blade so it faces the asphalt, before digging it into the ground, "I have no quarrel with you all, so leave me be, or tell Lala I want to speak to her..." The three shadows merely tilt or twist their heads at unnatural angles, staring Rito down before collectively laughing at pitches that send shivers down Rito's spine.

"I'm so sorry, Rito-dono," Zastin states, drawing his sword awkwardly and holding it out unsteadily, like it wasn't made for him, "But there is no Lala here... only _**D̼̻̫̀a̢͔̻͎̻̻͙͍r͙͕͟k̦̱̭̞̮͍n̰̩̬̥͈͍ͅe̘͇̪̜̥̪͡s҉̖̲̜͉̟͈s̘͉͉̟̜͍̲͞**_..." With that, the three charged at Rito, and the young red head calmly held his ground.

* * *

 **A/N:Wow, 10,000 views and not even at the finale yet? Coming soon, I promise ;)**

 **Actually I already had the previous chapter, this chapter, and the finale written after I finally decided to post the last chap. I'm already working on writing what comes after our lovely finally. And let me tell you, what comes next actually shows just how much this arc has changed, being written, and rewritten since I finally started to wrap this little arc up.**

 **Bonus: I bet you noticed the name changed once again! I thought it was time for a change, and honestly I find that the new name reflects both the summary and the first couple of chapters better than the original premise I started this with.**

 **Hopefully the pun hits _,_ but it may take a bit of creative arrangement to get it. And now if you notice it lacks the extra 'To', you'll know why...  
**


	49. Lunar Bravais Arc

_**If you could have everything in the universe handed to you on a silver platter...**_  
 _ **Why would you reject it for my love?**_

 _ **What color can I give you, when I lack the light to give it to you?**_

 **OoOoOoOoO**

Zastin was first, drawing his blade and aiming to strike true at Rito's heart. Behind him Momo called upon her connections to plants, as walls of vines exploding through the street out of the crater and growing tall and strong to grasp and crush everything around them like a tidal wave of flora. Brokenly, Nana called forth something from her de-dial, and Rito's heart broke as he watched as the gleaming red scales and bright eyes of the Drasuke Redwing, was now dulled and blackened, as spiraling veins of darkness seemed to course up his body, leaving cracks oozing darkness between broken scales. And yet Rito Yuuki stood his ground, his sword impaled in the ground and accepting his fate, while the three forms of death came to crash upon him simultaneously. Slowing his breathing while waiting, he realizes that nothing can be said or done to stop his former friends from hurting him, and he sighs as he centers himself and prepares for what comes next.

In the blink of an eye Zastin goes to strike first, aiming for his heart, and that is when Rito makes his move. Dragging his sword up from its place, he passively deflects each cloven sweep of his former mentors strikes, showing that this facsimile was not the man who trained him. Momo's wave of botanical force came crashing upon the two at last, and out of the corner of his eye he realized that nothing could stop it from descending upon them. Feeling something wrap around his waist unexpectedly, he opens his eyes in surprise as he is yanked forcibly back, just as the apex of the wave curls down to crash upon his former friend and teacher. Looking down to see golden strands surrounding his body, he feels himself be deposited on the other side of the street, where he is instantly found himself surrounded by Golden Darkness and Black, with Kyoko and Run at his side and checking him over to see if he was okay, Doctor Mikado kneeling down next to him.

"We got a call from Mikan, Rito are you okay?" Mikado asks, checking him for any scrapes or cuts, "Are those the princess' of Deviluke?" Mikado is looking to where a frustrated Momo is standing next to Nana, as the younger sister gestures for her obedient pet to attack his saviors. "They look like they've all been... infected by something," Mikado notes, looking at the pale bodies, their wounds oozing darkness, just before Zastin cuts himself free of the bed of vines, and stands up and looking like everything is wrong with his body features angled the wrong way as he straightens himself out.

"They were the twin princesses of Deviluke, and that was just their bodyguard, Zastin," Rito states, watching Zastin piece himself back together and trying not to throw up, "I don't know what's done this to them, but they aren't themselves, so don't hurt them anymore than necessary." Yami in her Darkness form has already wrangled the Drasuke to the ground as Nana calls forth her Giga-Boar now, while Black has engaged Zastin in a duel of bullets and swords. He turns to look at Run and Kyouko, who are standing by while Momo approaches them as the only one not distracted by someone else.

"Rito, why couldn't you accept her love,why couldn't you have just remained ignorant and stopped fighting everything," the imitation of Momo states, "She gave up everything to you, and it was like you spit in her face for her sacrificing everything for you." She sneers at him, drawing forth some seeds from her De-Dial and scattering them on the floor. "For a man whose rejected my sister's Harem Plan, and my revisions to it, you seem to surround yourself with a lot of pretty girls still," She smiles as plants sprout around her, ready to obey her command and attack, "Let's see how safe you are, once we strangle all the life out of those you love, and leave you alone with your darkness..." Rito's eyes widen as she sadistically smiles, waving her hand forward and causing the strangling vines to snake to the unarmed Run, towards himself, and Mikado. A sudden wall of flame appears before them all, the vines withering and burning to ash as they grow to strike at Rito and the others.

"You won't attack Rito or my friends, not while Magical Kyouko Flame has anything to say about it!" Kyouko states with a smile, somehow in her magical girl outfit despite having just been in plainclothes less than a minute ago, "Thanks for giving me something to burn, by the way!" As Momo growls in frustration and backs off, she calls more plants to the battlefield, as Kyouko advances.

"Kyouko!" Run cries out, as she tries to go forward, she is stopped by Mikado grasping her arm, "Sensei, let me go, Kyouko doesn't know who she's facing, I do!" She breaks the older woman's grip before grabbing something from her purse and hitting a few buttons. Descending form the sky in the distance, a massive flying saucer appears from out of nowhere, before dropping something from its interior and disappearing back where it came from. "I knew there was a good reason to keep this!" Run states in joy, as the items drops into her hands and she activates it, "Metallic Blue is on her way, Magical Kyouko!" Run activates the forgotten flamethrower in her hand, kept in storage after buying it from Galactic Delivery Services and never actually using it in one of her ploys to get Rito back. Charging in to help Kyouko fend off the creeping vines, the touch-me-not's, and the other plants in Momo's arsenal.

"Mikado Sensei, I need to know, do you think I caused this," Rito asks, grabbing his sword and using it like a cane to help him to his feet, much to the concern of the doctor, "Do you think I did the right thing rejecting the people who loved me, who cared about me and only had my best interest at heart..." He turns to the Doctor, who merely hugs him in response, nearly unbalancing him, and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

"Whatever you did Rito, it didn't cause this, you couldn't have predicted whatever it was that happened to these people," Ryoko states, smiling down at him as she lets him go, "You followed your heart, you did what you thought was best for you, and what you thought was best was trying to find out what really happened to you." She turns to look at the carnage going around them, watching as Yami fought with everything she had against Nana, how Kyouko and Run had Momo cornered, and how Black had Zastin blocking shot after shot from his gun. "You may have broken hearts, you may have hurt people, but you brought together people who were so different that society had given up on them," Mikado turns to Rito with a smile, "You inspire people Rito, to fight for their love, for their own path to follow, you didn't ask to become King of the Universe, but you seem to be on the path to showing you have the qualities to become one." She watches as Rito looks down at his feet, a half-hidden smile on his face as he looks up to observe everyone fighting for him, even though he had resigned himself to his fate. They hadn't given up on him, so why shouldn't he listen to them. Standing up and holding his sword out, he feels his connection to the core awaken, as his ring begins to burn bright orange, blinding everyone who still battled.

Everyone stopped struggling, stopped moving, as they all drew their attention to the source of the mysterious orange light that had suddenly bathed the area so. Sword drawn and pointed outwards, the scimitar was now replaced with its true form, the Ninth Blade whole once more, with the burning source of light coming from the ring on Rito's hand, his own yellow eyes filled with determination so unlike him for those that knew him as merely a klutz and a goof. Zastin had stopped fighting Black, having been clipped by a bullet and falling to his knee, when Rito struck with a sudden swiftness that defied logic, and even physics. In the blink of an eye, whether it was the ring charging his own bodies unnatural abilities or true speed, Rito had held Zastin by the throat. The knight valiantly struggled for a few moments, before his face contorted into a scream of pain, as Rito's eyes flashed from golden light to pink majesty, the blackness that seemed to infect Zastin being drawn to Rito's ring as he held on tight. Soon even the flowers grown through Zastin's armor were brittle and turning to dust, as if dried in the sun, and Zastin's healthy pallor returned as Rito let the knight's body fall limply to the ground. Ring burning bright, and eyes glowing unnaturally, he turns his gaze upon Nana, trapped beneath Darkness' hair, alongside her two familiars, the Giga-Boar, and the still snapping Drasuke that struggled against their bonds.

In seconds he was between all three of the infected members, and in a swift, circling stroke, he cut into all three with little effort, and the others could only watch in disbelief at what happened next. As if being drained like slaughtered animals, the dark ichor flowed freely from the wounds Rito caused with his blade, red gem gleaming with hunger as the darkness seemed to be drawn back into the sword and ring both, as if they were bottomless vessels. The Giga-Boar, eyes angry and red, seemed to soften and heal by being bathed in the orange glow of Rito's ring, while the Drasuke stopped floundering beneath the weight of the golden locks, slipping into a daze as its wound healed and the darkness was excised from its body. Nana, too, seemed to stop struggling, as the darkness was drawn from her body like thousands of quills being pulled from her skin, until they began to bleed red, and even then that was quickly healed by the blazing orange light. Finally Rito turned to Momo, whose face held true fear while observing the kind and careful Rito, show true indifference and mercilessness in his attacks, not seeming to even recognize he was healing his friends, no joy on his face. Before Momo could even flee in terror, Rito had ran her through with his sword. She stared down at the black blade embedded in the darkness that comprised most of her body, until Rito put his ring to the wound. Filled with searing heat and pain, as he pressed the orange stone into her stomach, he withdrew the black blade slowly, stone faced, drawing it out along with every bit of darkness that flowed like blood through her veins, making her sickly pink hair, truly vibrant once more.

Removing the blade and letting Momo fall into the expectant arms of Run and Kyouko, who had stopped themselves and got behind her as Rito attacked the youngest Deviluke Princess. The glowing had dimmed in his ring now, as the darkness fed his sword, and the corruption that had been so evident on the faces and bodies of Momo, Nana, and Zastin, were all present on Rito now. Stepping away from the group of people that now surrounded him, expecting the worst, his pink eyes turned yellow again, and he blinked as emotion returned to his face. "Don't worry," Rito states, replacing his blade into its scabbard, "I am merely making right what is wrong, so do not stop me now." He looks up at the darkening sky, as the pale outline of the moon has become visible and growing stronger. "Face me, ' _ **G͔͕̣̀ó̵̵͖̹͚̥͓ḓ̥̻̦͞'**_ of this new reality, stop holding yourself back," he calls out, towards the moon, "Why should you hide yourself any longer, I know you're still fighting it, you don't have to hide yourself any longer." Getting no response, he sighs, and stares up at the moon hanging in the sky. "I still love you Lala, this ring proves it," he states holding the glowing ring up, "If I have to drag you down from the heavens to bring you back to me... _**t҉h̶͈̼̣e̦̫n̞͇͡ ̙̝̯̼̟͞ș̹̹̖̜̲o͉̦̣̜̼ͅ ̨̻͓ḇ̳̪͖̣̩͕e ̣͡i͏̫̥̗̜̼̱̩t̴ͅ.**_ " Eyes glowing bright pink for a moment, he turns his eyes skyward and lifts his left hand up towards the sky, as the ring begins to glow orange in contrast to his eyes. Suddenly flipping colors between pink and orange, his ring now glowing blazing orange, his eyes a vibrant, sparkling pink like fireworks burning in his eyes. Raising his hand to the sky he and the others watched with bated breath as a small, red cord grew from his ring, stretching out into sky above and reaching for the moon. It grew, faster, faster, longer, until it disappeared into the horizon, finally growing taunt as Rito strained to control it. The colors of his eyes and rings then merged, until they too traveled along the cord, stretching out into space to connect the two who wore the rings and bring them back together. Rito waited, as he felt the cord that represented the tether that was their love, stay warm and thrum with life even in the depth of the cold, unforgiving darkness.

 _ **OoOoOoOoO**_

 _She watched as the red cord spiraled out of her own ring, stretching down to the impossibly bright jewel that hung in the sky, and she felt it reach out and connect with one on earth who stole her dark power. Not one to fall for the bait, the promises of love and forgiveness, of hope that the tether whispered into her mind, she fought back against the assault of emotion that charged the cord and anchored her to such a small, pitiful world. She saw the stars, felt the thrum of life from distant hearts and distant loves, she wished to feel them, to drink in their love, as she felt their blood dripping down her hands, as she conquered their planets for herself and her alone. She would not be brought down to such a small and pitiful place, when the wonderful, cold, dead moon that she inhabited, a place of balance between the_ _ **? ﾝﾔﾦ**_ _ **? ﾝﾔﾥ**_ _ **?**_ _and the_ _ **D̘̳͓̭̞a̷̤r̲͕̗̪̩͚k͢,**_ _was her footstool. Control of a few, measly galaxies had made her born into the role of a princess, but conquering a newborn galaxy as its newborn god, that was her right as Queen. That's who she was now, no longer Lala Satalin Deviluke, the disillusioned, tired princess, no..._

 _She was_ _ **Q͙̹̪͖̩͞ͅu̟͢e̞̳̥̳̲̱ẹ̰̖͝n̛̞ o̺̗̜̠̹̗̠f͕̲͙̙͚͕ͅ ̧̦͔̹̤t̩͠ḫ̤̟̖͙̀e̲̭̞̠̬ͅ ̥̤͘N̲̘̤ì͚g͍͍͎̘̰̻h͝t̶,**_ _always and ever._

 **OoOoOoOoO**

Growling in distaste at feeling his attempt to reach out to her rejected, Rito regarded everyone gathered around him for the first time since he had gained his newfound power. He eyes Nana and Momo, both being helped by Doctor Mikado to ensure they were fully healed, while Zastin looked up defiantly at Rito, leaning on Black as he does so. "Not so fast to trust the person that saved you all?" Rito asks, smirking at Zastin before turning back to the moon in the sky, "It makes no difference, Zastin, if you hate me or not, I saved your life, I saved the princess' for taking me home... why do you still look like you wish to kill me?" Zastin hops off of Black's shoulder, wobbling slowly over to Rito and refusing help from those that tried to aide him. Limping over to Rito, he forces the younger man to stare at him by blocking his view of the moon, Rito's eyes flashing dangerously as he looks up at the bigger man.

"No, Rito Yuuki, former husband-to-be, I do not wish to spill your blood, nor you mine," Zastin states, as he puts a hand to the boy's shoulders, "I have seen many men, many friends, who have had the same look in your eyes that I now see." Rito feels the man in front of him barring him no ill will, and with this knowledge, Rito's curiosity wins out, his face softening. "Do not assume you wield the power of a god, not without the experience, nor without the wisdom to wield such power properly," Zastin states, "My own ancestor held the title of King, once he had the ties to royalty that allowed him such a privilege, whereas I do not, so he thought himself a god among his people." Zastin steps back,and looks around to those assembled, motioning outwards towards them, forcing Rito to look upon them. "He sought to usurp those with the right qualities to rule, qualities he lacked the experience to form, and he was exiled for his attempts to find and use gods power for his own selfish reasons," Zastin states, "Look around you, Rito, these are the people you may someday rule, will you be their King, a wise ruler, or a despot who believes he has the power to rule, one who may genuinely back up such claim, yet lack those loyal ones he could trust... those he could love..." He approaches Rito once more, now putting both hands on his shoulders, maneuvering around the thread that still was outstretched from the ring. "Lala, if she is truly alive as you think, she is not lost to you Rito, not if you still hold the place in her heart that she does in yours," he states, as he points to the girls around them both, "You severed ties with each of these girls, not only in the real world, but here, now; that should show her how true your love is for her, when her one wish is only to make you happy, and to stay alive for her..."

Rito feels the anger in him dissipate, staring at the fearful, confused, concerned faces of those he had hurt, and who had hurt him, around him. He now even saw Yui, Haruna, Mikan, and Celine, not having noticed their approach at all, standing with the Princess' and the others, seeing with everyone around him made him stop and think. He takes a deep breath, looking all around them and feeling the love, the concern that emanated from all of them, despite having cut ties with them. The darkness clouding the corners of his mind, dissipated, and the anger he had been feeling from Lala, replaced with despair, hopelessness, fear, all focused from their bond down onto him, towards him, concerning him. Rito relaxed, and felt the darkness in his sword become manageable, flowing into every crack and crevice of him, along with the power, the light from the bond he shared with Lala. Opening his eyes, he could feel the truth in his bones, and he knew now what he had to do. Turning back to the others he smiles reassuringly at them all in turn. "You're right, I can't force myself to be someone I'm not, I've always been horrible at that," he states, while looking up at the thin cord stretching up into the sky, "But I know I can't let her stay in the dark alone, even if I'm not worthy of her, I can't stand by and do nothing!"

" _I believe I can help you with that!_ " a new voice says echoing all around him, surprising everyone as Rito's shadow begins to contort, gaining physical mass. Defining himself even further, the contrast is immediate as Adam regains his shape and form. "I left just enough of myself behind to help you, Rito, and I hold to my promises," he states, walking up to Rito and kneeling before him, "I am and have always been a part of you, this power is our power, and I cannot follow you where you need to go now." Looking up to Rito with a smile, he places both of his hands around Rito's own, before closing his eyes and concentrating. "I may have been born of the Ninth Blade, but it was your own power and experience that made me real, and now I give that back to you," he states, as his eyes begin to glow as orange as the ring, and his body of shadow turns into one of pure, golden light. As Rito watches in awe with new light reflecting in his eyes, he feels it cover him, warm him with hope, courage, and renewed energy, curing the ache in his bones that he hadn't even realized he had gained holding the darkness in. By the time the light died down, when everyone could view Rito once more, Adam was nowhere in sight, and Rito was transformed once again.

Standing in clothes that looked like King Gid's own robes tailored to fit him, Rito still had more surprises in store for him. His hair instead of the bright orange it always had been, full of energy and life, was now glowing golden, defying gravity and adding an air of difference around Rito. Looking at himself Rito was surprised that despite looking different, he still felt the same, and it was something that comforted him. Where his mind had felt whole upon regaining all of his memories, this new feeling was like he had been living with hundred pound weights dragging him down, and now he could fly. In fact... Feeling gravity just let go of him, Rito feels the tug of the ring on his hand pulling him up, following the thread to its source, his other half. Rito let go of his worry, his fear, and replaced it with determination, hope. He knew exactly what he needed to do, and he let himself be taken up into the sky, plunging ahead into the darkness with his own light.

 **OoOoOoOoO**

She feels him coming, she also sees the impossible shining star rising from the planets exosphere, and crossing the vast void like a streak towards her. The impossible to cut thread is humming with her heart now, trying to breach the wall of darkness she had put up around it, closing it off to those feelings she no longer felt worthy of. 'No, I am not unworthy of those feelings,' the Queen of Night thinks, 'He is unworthy of me, for having led the girl I was along, never truly loving her, forcing who I once was to go to extremes just to save his life...' She extends her reach with her new power, strands of darkness arise, shadows cast by the dark side abide by her command, and she sends them to smother the growing streak of light coming for her. Aiming them sharp and true like spears, she takes hold of them from her spot on the moon, and closes her hands in gesture over the spark of light in the void.

The dark responds in kind, the shape of massive hands, pure emptiness, outlined against the blue jewel in the sky. They close in around the light that is streaking straight towards their Queen, and they surround it completely, blocking it out completely from her sight. She smiles, happy that such a small nuisance could be removed so swiftly, though as she turned away to turn her gaze upon the dimming stars, she felt the cord wrapped around her fingers yank her hand away from her once more. Turning to see that the thin red cord, her tether to this wretched planet, still intact, she looks to see where her handiwork should have snuffed out the light. The orb of darkness still hangs like an eclipse against the blue jewel, though it seems to have reached its zenith, as bright light explodes outwards from the edges of darkness, burning her perfect creation away. It seems she would not be rid of this pest so easily, so she instead chose to watch it approach, slowing in its descent as it reached the outer edge of the moon's field of gravity. She watched as it began to take form out of the light revealing a man, no, a boy, who looked too much like someone her old self had know. "Did father send you too, child?" she asks, not even bothering to scrutinize him, thinking him little more than another lackey, "Father had sent Nana and Momo to find me with Zastin at their heel, does that man find me so little a threat to ignore me as King of the Universe, not when I aim to replace him as its Queen?" The Queen of Night growls, turning away from him to focus on another way to cut this impossible bond that kept her tied to this planet. She had a King to kill, a throne to take, and a universe to plunge into darkness.

"I'm sorry you think that, Lala, but I wasn't sent here by your father, but your sisters, your friends are all worried about you," the annoying voice that causes her heart to beat faster states, "I'm worried about you." The Queen of Night turns to stare down at the man who dare says that name in her presence, only to find that he is the source of the same brilliant, annoying light that had caused her head to ache and heart to flutter. His mere presence filled her with such contradicting feelings of relief, of disgust, of hatred, anger, happiness, fear, and the list goes on. Stamping those into the dust of the moon, she hardens the wall around her heart even more. Now she was intent on eliminating this pest who spoke to her so casually, like he was worthy of standing before her, of basking in her shadow.

" _No one_ may call me by that name, I am not that insolent little girl, I'm not a lovesick fool who chose to throw her life away pining for a boy who never loved her, who died for her!" the anger smoldering in her eyes were enough to take even the kind and patient Rito aback, the hatred coming off in waves from her venomous comments, "She died paving the way for me to take control of this new life; when she could not stand the pressure of creating a new universe and take it as its god, I came into being to do it for her." She raises her hand towards him, raising spires of darkness in his direction that stop just short of impaling him, as if unable to follow through. "When she wished to find, to pine, for a boy she saved, I was there to hide that boy away, influence events to keep her from ever finding him," she states, closing the grip of her hand, forcing the spires of shadow to surround this boy of light, "I failed in keeping him hidden, so I killed her jealous sister and raised her again to be a part of my family of shadows, I then used her to hunt after him, and she brought my other sister into my inner circle, and finally together they brought our father's boot licker, Zastin to my heel..." She surrounds him with darkness, unable to touch him, she creates a shell of darkness that encapsulate him, wishing with all her might to smother his light and relieve her of this growing ache that deems to split her heart, her thoughts, in two.

The Queen of Night watches to see if any of his pesky light can escape her grasp, and she is satisfied that she lets the shadows fall to see her enemy snuffed out before her. She finds him standing there still, the light dimmer, surely but still present as the intermittent light glowing on the stupid ring of his, the same kind of ring that dimly glows that same pink and orange as his. The cord seems so short between them now, and now that she sees it more clearly in the refracted planet light, she could see that he too was bound to the same cord as she. Her eyes widening in wonder, as she realizes that he is the tether, he is the problem, her lips widen as she smiles a dangerous, maniacal grin towards Rito. "You, you're my problem, not that planet, not her!" she states, a crazed look in her eyes as she looks up at him now, meeting his eyes with her own, "She whispers in my ears, she tells me to stop, to listen to my heart, but the darkness, ooohhh, the darkness is so much more; I want to let the galaxy, the universe feel this same darkness, this comforting embrace that I do, and YOU. ARE. THE. ONE. STOPPING. ME?" She screams and wildly rushes forward, gliding on her own shadow with killer intent towards the boy standing before her. In her haste, he sidesteps her rage fueled attack, laughing impishly as he floats in the low gravity, out of her reach and onto the thin barrier that defines the darkness and the light.

"I'm sorry you see it that way, my 'Queen'," he says mockingly, straying further into the light as he watches her stand at the edge, unwilling to go any further into the light than the darkness she had brought with her, "It won't hurt you, you know, the light is a part of you too, just as the darkness is a part of me... you'll be fine Lala." As if reading her mind, she balks at him, crying out in rage as she defiantly steps into the light, revealing more than the blurry, pink glimpses he had seen of her. To say she was gorgeous was erroneous, she was more beautiful than words could express, even with darkness cloaking her body and hiding her true beauty behind a mask of rage and indifference. She wore a dress that looked as thin as gauze yet showed nothing behind its smoky black interior. Much like Lala had assumed Rito was dressed as her father was, he could say the same of the clothing Lala wore, reminiscent of the Charmian dress that he had seen Queen Sephie wore on her visit to Earth. Though it's train was colored black, it trailed ethereally behind her like it was made of living darkness, much like the majority of Lala's dress, it looked organic, unreal, impossible even, yet clearly there. That feeling was multiplied when he saw the dim orb emerging from the middle of her chest, Rito identifying it as the former Taoist Pearl of Wisdom. "I never got to see you in your wedding dress," Rito states, looking over the dress with interest, as Lala regains her footing in the light and turns herself towards him, her dress floating behind her in the low gravity, "If you looked half as beautiful as that on our wedding day, then you'd outshine even your mother in the galaxies eyes..." She growls and takes a stance, aiming her tail at him and firing a beam of shadow towards him as he lazily floats above the moon, skipping across its surface backwards, away from Lala to draw her out.

"You seek to make a fool of me, then, little pest?" she states, as she watches Rito effortlessly block her attack by pulling out his sword and deflecting the shot, "Try fighting me in hand to hand, then, if you feel so confident in your ability." The Queen smiles, knowing no man worth his pride or honor would refuse, yet once again she would be surprised by his answer.

"I don't care what you think Lala, I just want you back, want you in my arms again, even for a short time," he states, skidding to a stop as he lands and faces her, his golden hair floating in the low gravity, his yellow eyes pleading with her to listen as he stares deep into her mind and his words try to reach her heart, "Lala, you're confused, your tearing yourself apart trying to be the painter and the subject, you've confused yourself and let the confusion, the darkness take control of you." He walks towards her, causing her to stay still in surprise as he casually approaches one who wished to kill him, before stopping at only a few feet away. "I think that anger I'm feeling in our bond," he states, holding up his own ring and forcing her to do the same as the cord twists and tumbles, shortening the distance between them, bringing them both closer, "Your angry at yourself, you couldn't protect me, but that's okay, I didn't ask you to hate yourself, to feel like you needed to distance yourself from me..." He draws closer, bring his free and towards her left cheek, and causing her to shudder involuntarily, drawing back in fear as he caressed her cheek with his cool, burning hands. "I don't want you to stop feeling love for me because you want me to live, and I can't stop feeling love for you, just because you decided to make my life like I had never met you," he states, his face growing closer to her own, "You think by giving me all I ever could have wanted, a girl who loved me, whom I loved in return without question, and expecting me to not look for you when my heart knew what my head said was right, was actually wrong..."

He pulled away from her, drifting back as he gives her space, to think, to breath, to realize she hates it. The clarity he brought, the peace to her heart now gone, her eyes narrow at the man who bewitched her with his presence, and she hissed at him being so close to her, that she let her guard down. "You're no playboy Rito, you couldn't even confess to the girl you really loved, why should this be any different," she states haughtily, raising her head and looking away, "You say you loved who I was, when I was Lala, but you never showed it, never said it, and now that I am a Queen, the Queen of Night, why should I return those feelings here, now?" She states it as a rhetorical question, yet she wonders in her heart if she really isn't asking that question. A Queen was not lowering herself to be with a commoner, a man not even fit to be her servant, one who was known to have girls hanging off of him, and a be a lecher, a pervert on top of it all... 'NO!" her heart cried out, breaking the crumbling wall, the facade around her heart, which causes the Queen to stumble in her stride, clutching her chest as if her heart was torn from her chest, 'Rito didn't mean it, he isn't a pervert on purpose... it was another thing we did to him, we made him like that; gave him Cataleptic Indecency Syndrome.' She growls as she picks herself back up, focusing on the boy of light ahead of her.

"You're right, Lala, you can't really know my feelings, and I can;t really know yours, not on the surface, but I get the feeling, I know the gist..." he states, holding up the ring and taking a quick pluck at the string, a wave of feelings fed to her through her own ring, "But I can't lie to you, to myself anymore, just because I'm too nice, just because I'm afraid...afraid of hurting people, of letting them down, of making people hate me!" His voice steadily rising, his words cracking from the sorrow, the guilt, anguish crashing upon the wall the Queen had erected around her heart, eroding it away little by little. "I'm sorry Lala, sorry I didn't tell you the truth once I had thought I knew my feelings, sorry for dragging you along as I tried to understand just how I felt about Sairenji, about how I hid myself away from you because I didn't want to be king, I just wanted to BE Rito, the boy from Earth, who wanted to have a normal life, a normal family!" he draws a half step closer to her, falling to his hands and knees as he grips lunar rocks in his hands, crushing them in his anguish, "I didn't ask to be King, you didn't want to even BE Queen, yet you choose to stick with me, YOU got ME to realize that all these other girls didn't compare to you...you always wanted me to be yours, and yours alone..." His voice quiets down as he looks dejectedly at the ground, tears of light falling to the ground and bathing it with pools of gold, before he looks up at her. "You know, you're just like Momo, in a way," he states shakily, rising up and walking towards her, "You fall in love, find out those feelings aren't returned, so you lie to yourself, fall deeper into the lie, force yourself into coming up with a harebrained scheme to create a Harem, make 'everyone' happy, but sacrifice your own happiness, hide your true feelings, in the process..." He grabs her by the hand, and pulls her close, much to her shock. "But I know better now, I know how you feel, and I finally see you there," he says softly, staring into her eyes, into her heart, "Come back to me, Lala."

She blinks, and reason overcomes her, as she wants to pull away and yet she wants to throw it all away, let him kiss her, take him as hers, and hers alone, dammit all to heck. And so she decides to close her eyes, letting go of the background noise, the static, the anger, the guilty pleasure, the feelings that confuse her, and the Charmian hormones conflicting with her Devilukean nature, that tell her this is so right, and so, so wrong. She hears him speak, but it all seems to be fuzz in her ears, as she finds herself captivated by his eyes, the eyes of Her Rito, behind the face of golden man.

Rito knows she had stopped listening, stop fighting him the moment she had fell into his arms and sighed in relief. It had in fact, surprised him so much he honestly didn't know if it had worked or not, yet the peace, the love he felt through the connection between them was comforting and familiar as the smell of ginger and pears. Smiling, he watches her close her eyes and sit their in his grasp, and he finally gets to do something he has wanted to do of his own volition, and not some crazy alien parasite, or flu, or body switching, or anything else...  
"You were wrong to think you're the Queen of Night, Lala," he says, leaning in to kiss her, barely brushing her lips as he speaks, "I was always the one in the dark, and you were always my guiding light..." Falling into the kiss, and finding himself no short of breath, he feels the walls she had built up inside her crumble, and the fear, the guilt, and uncertainty he had built up dissipate as well. Neither noticed as both rings glowed brilliant bright, as orange and pink engulfed both of them, dispelling the darkness in Lala,and revealing who she really was beneath the shadowy facade. "The bond between us," he breathes into her, "It's not colored pink." He gazes over her renewed form, the shadows and darkness that had plagued her in the form of fear and doubt now gone. Black replaced by a lovely, pure white of similar smoky qualities, her trailing shadows now a glittery trail of stardust and light that made Rito think she looked more like a comet in the night sky.

"It's not orange," she whispers back, leaning in for another kiss. Rito gladly giving in, taking another breath in the vacuum of space, the stars and the planets surrounding them both. He pulls away, entwining his hands with hers and staring down at the two rings, closer together than they had ever been before.

"It's definitely not red," he states, smiling, looking down at their entwined hands. The red thread seemed to waver as it encircled their conjoined hands, slowly bleeding color, yet growing brighter.

"Its gold," they murmur together in happiness, going into an even deeper kiss than their first, or the last, as neither knows where one begins and the ends. Golden light danced around them, the color of the brilliant sun, swooping, spinning around them like a cocoon of warmth, growing, shrinking, twirling in an indescribable fashion, an unbreakable bond. They were one, yet they were also Lala, they were also Rito. And they, for once, were both happy to be very much alive. Yet pulling away from Lala's embrace, Rito knew the sad truth all too well.

"It's time my love, this world, our second chance is being wasted even now," Rito states, as he looks around them, watching the stars slowly burn themselves out in an unstable matrix.

"I know," she breathes, resting her head in the crook of her neck, "I couldn't do it alone... the power was overwhelming, and I felt myself split between becoming your wife and becoming something...more." She entwines her fingers with him once more, smiling as she stares into his lovely, yellow eyes, staring over his gorgeous orange hair, and drinking in every detail she could, while this perfect reality lasted for the both of them. "I'm ready," she states, putting a hand to her chest, where the once corrupt orb sits embedded in place of her heart, "Help me do this...please." He nods, placing his own hand over hers, and gently he helps her remove the Pearl of Wisdom from her chest, though they are both surprised to find that the pearl is fragmentary, only half of it is there, what was once whole. "I don't understand, this was whole, the Pearl was whole," she states, meeting his confused eyes with her fearful ones, "I don't understand, the Pearl should be whole!" In a blinding flash of light, the universe goes still around them, ringing in their ears as a flash of stark white replaces the black void, as air replaces vacuum, and as gravity takes hold of their bodies.

Looking around them, they both notice the new world around them is seamless, flawless, endless white, a barren plain with nothing around them, not even the shades of their friends, or family. "How-" Rito asks, looking around, with an equally confused Lala.

"How indeed, Rito-kun, Lala-chi," a mysterious new voice states, as they both turn to find the source standing before them, hiding a smile behind her green locks of hair, "A child of true Taoists, in love with a daughter of the devils and the angels, such a thing is unheard of to my people, nor is it know to those who do not know their true histories..." The woman, who is garbed in a white yukata that is laced with fancy golden trim, hides her amusement behind a white fan of plain decoration while observing both Lala and Rito. "To be fair, it is not that it is necessarily unheard of, but then again, my love life never was successful after all," she states coyly, removing her fan to reveal a kind face with pleasing, mirthful eyes that speak their age, and the air she exudes around her states her position, "I am the keeper of the Pearls, both of Wisdom and Power, and it was with haste that you brought these two together, unknowingly though it may be, that has caused the situation you now find yourselves in." She smiles at Lala, moving towards her and cupping her cheek in her hand. "My, how pretty you are, and how much hope you fill me with, knowing that despite my people's mistake, you could stand before me this day, Princess of Deviluke," she turns to Rito now, and stands him straight, gazing him over with a playful look to her eyes, "And my, what a handsome boy you've found, someone like you could drive the ladies mad if I'm reading you right, and I am..." She smirks, bopping him in the nose before giggling and floating away from the two, lighter than air.

"My name is Echidna Paras, and I was much like you once, in love, with a duty to attend to," she states, looking over the both of them, "Now it is with heavy heart that I watch the Pearls I and my people crafted be mishandled, misused across entire galaxies, or forgotten entirely by those who lack knowledge." She twirls around, her dressing catching air where there should be none, twisting around like a jellyfish in water, before she stops and smiles sadly at them both. "Unfortunately, while the Pearl of Wisdom is known to offer people the ability to learn what could be, in contact with the Pearl of Power the effect of both allows one to recreate the world in their very image by using the unimaginable power of Tao at their disposal to shape everything to their whim..." Echidna grabs the remaining pearl from Lala's hand, and smiles sadly at it, turning her attention to her two guests. "Fortunately Lala only held the one Pearl in her possession, so while she could shape reality to her whim, she had not the power to make its alterations permanent, not consciously at least," she expands, as she places the Pearl back into Lala's grasp, before facing Rito and putting a hand to his chest, "You, on the other hand, were in possession of the other half, meaning you had the power, but not the means to consciously use it, control it, or share it fully, without being remade too..." She smiles as she applies more force to Rito's chest, as a bubbling darkness seems to seep through his veins and surface beneath her touch. "Thankfully that means only together, and if you two truly wish it, have the power to shape the future, or return it to how it was," she states, as she pulls the broken half of the Taoist Pearl of Power from Rito, pressing it into his grasp, "Now, the two of you can set right what you made wrong, and you both can end my loneliness and misery..."

At that Lala blinks curiously at the frowning woman, her mood having gone from happy to sad so incredibly fast. "How could we end your loneliness?" she asks, moving closer to the woman, grabbing onto her arm as she becomes concerned by her words, "How are you miserable?" Rito is surprised his fiancee is so close to the mysterious stranger, but her open personality makes her more sociable than he. He smiles as the woman gives another bubbly laugh at Lala's questions, and her concern.

"Very well little ones, I guess if you are to truly understand my pain, this is the place that would be the quickest to show you," she states, sliding Lala off of her arm, and lifting herself up into the air, "Stand together, and pay attention, what you see cannot be altered, and who you see cannot see you, for these are merely... my memories..." Glowing a brilliant white, Lala and Rito both shield their eyes as everything goes blank.

 **OoOoOoOoO**

Waking to woods full of trees, some familiar, some alien to Rito, he looks around for Lala, and finds her sitting draped over a long, unconscious. Quickly going over to her, he puts a hand to her arm and shakes her, trying to wake her up. Yawning, she blinks her eyes open, and stares up at Rito, smiling. "Rito!"she throws herself into him, causing him to drop to the ground, her arms surrounding him as she snuggles deep into his shoulders, "I thought we were dreaming, and..." Rito stops her, pulling her off of him, and looking around, when he notices the sun in the sky.

"Lala, I think we're still wherever we are, this place is just somewhere else..." he states, pointing up to the star that looked like it was twice or thrice the size of the sun from Earth, though this one was red, "I think we're reliving her memories, like she said, this must be her home planet..."

 _Planet of birth, thank you, but not my home, never my home..._

Rito and Lala both look around to see where the voice is coming from, but neither see the woman standing around them.

 _Sorry dears, since these are my memories of the past, 'I' can't really be there without changing the script. You two are stuck with me as your narrator now. You'll see younger me running by, right, now..._

True to her word, there was in fact a new person arriving in the clearing, a young woman by the looks of it, wearing a red hood and robe, and running through the clearing while laughing. As if time has slowed down the girl they see has the same bright, vibrant, green hair, a smile on her face, and a patchwork dress that looked like it was sewn with care but made of rags dyed beautiful colors. "Try and catch me suckers!" she shouts, as time resumes, and the younger woman is followed by a group of small, blue humanoid anteaters with things that resemble blocky pick-axes, at least to Rito. They follow the young woman, shouting in an alien language, but the longer legged girl is obviously outpacing them, as they stop following her. Lala and Rito run to catch up to her, as her pursuers drop off little by little, and the woman stops in the middle of a clearing to catch her breath against a tree. "That should be far enough," she says to herself, looking around to see if she was alone, and not seeing Lala or Rito, she puts her hands against a tree and concentrates. Before Rito or Lala can blink, a hole opens in the trunk, and clear sky is shown on the other side, a grassy field through it as well. They follow her through it, as she steps out into the field on the other side.

When Lala and Rito make it to the other side of the portal, they see the young woman disappearing into the remains of a rotted out looking cottage. Following her towards the cottage, Rito peeks through broken window panes to see an empty, dirty looking room inside it. "How do we get in?" Rito asks, meeting up with Lala at the front door, "It's not like we can just walk right throu-" Putting his hand on the doorway, Rito falls through the door, as if he wasn't even there.

 _You're not really three, Rito, Lala, you're little more than ghosts inside my memories, you can walk through anything, go anywhere around me, but things tend to distort when I'm not around._

As if to make it obvious, the world around them suddenly blurred, making both Rito and Lala nauseous, before the world went back to normal with a roar. Then Echidna was in the room with them, looking up and all around, until they both realized that the roar they had heard, was coming from outside, above the house. Walking out of the hose, following Echidna, they see what appears to be a formless mass breaking through clouds, heading straight for them. "Is that?" Lala cryptically states, staring up and trying to see the falling item as it grows larger and more visible, "It is; a class one shuttle from deviluke's ancient military!" As they watch, it soars overhead, going over the crumbling cottage, and burying itself somewhere in the field of grass beyond. Lala and Rito both invested in this ancient mystery now, they follow the girl as she goes headfirst into danger, following her towards the smoking wreckage of the ship half-buried in the field.

"What is she doing?" Rito asks, watching as the girl looks around the wreckage for signs of life, until reaching the front and they see her eyes widening, she dives forward into the dirt, "Is she trying to kill herself?" Rito and Lala both follow, slipping into the ship from behind, just as they see her break the ships seat-belts, and drag a person from their seat back out of the crashed space ship. They see her dragging the man, face down and hair a bloody mess from a head wound, out of the field and watch with bated breath as she drags him into the musty, old cottage. They watch as she puts him on a moldy looking mattress of straw, grabbing some spare blankets to cover him and prop his head up, Rito stares at the man, while Lala goes to watch the younger Echidna, as she grabs a bucket to fill it with water. Rito stares long and hard at the man, his face matted with blood and dirt, turning his hair brown, yet his face seems oddly- Just then the world turns topsy-turvy, causing Rito to fall to his knees, weak from the sudden shift in perspective, until he finds Lala talking over him, cradling him in her lap now that the world was whole again.

"What happened Rito, did the world get all pixelly and wrong again?" Lala asks, and he weakly nods, "Its alright, the man made it, Echidna is just fixing him up right now." She looks up with a smile from Rito, only to freeze as she lands her eyes on Echidna and the mysterious crash victim. "R-Rito, y-you need to see this," she states, helping Rito sit up, as she keeps staring at the man. Rito joins her in staring at the bizarre scene, now that the man was stripped of his dirty clothes, and washed with the water retrieved from a nearby stream. His dirty, brown and bloodied hair had been washed clear, literally, as silver locks now graced his head, passing his ears. Obviously the surprise was more that they recognized the man, or rather, one of his descendants. The man looked like Zastin, only younger and much weaker. They watch as the man groans, awakening form the cool water on his face, or have just recovered naturally, they see what the man is to say and do while in Echidna's presence.

"Wha-" he states, before Echidna hushes him, giving him some water from her clean bucket, dripping some into his mouth with a clean, wet rag.

"You've been in an accident, spaceman, you need your rest," she states, as she pushes him down as he tries to get up, "You aren't well, I found you bleeding from the head in your craft, so I took you into my home and got you cleaned up." The man gratefully takes the water, sputtering a bit, but calming down enough to trust the woman, it seems. "So space man, when you're feeling better, I can get you up and about, and see if that ship of yours is worth fixing, yeah?" she states, smiling down as he slips back into unconsciousness, "The name is Echidna, by the way..." Suddenly the world goes white, and Lala and Rito stand as the scene around them seems to shift.

 _The man, as I would come to learn, was known as Creed Diskenth, an exiled royal from the same planet of Deviluke that now rules the cosmos. He wished to find his people's 'ancient gods', to ask, or rather beg, for their help. But as I would learn, his wish, his need to find these mysterious ghosts was becoming all consuming to him. Creed had been a noble man, but time had worn away his kindness, and left a void he wished to fill with something meaningful in his life. I had thought I could fill that niche for him, instead he used my knowledge of the planet and its people to help him fix his ship, convincing me he would take me with him. I mistook his meaning, of course, being a young and foolish girl who dreamed of leaving the crumbling ruins of my refuge for the adventures I could find in the stars. Where I thought his meaning was more... personal, I found his offer had been to take me to the nearest inhabited planet with a society that welcomed strangers openly. Thinking he was elevating me from the hovel that had been my home, he instead sought to strand me in a strange place, leaving me behind and expecting me to find food and shelter on my own..._

"I can't take you with me, Echidna, not with the path I need to follow," Creed states,a she finishes the last touches on his space ship, closing it and sealing it properly with a welding tool, "I must find the ancient ones that once promised my people our powers: our strength, the power to project energy from our tails; they can help me become the hero the universe needs!" He ignores the disappointment in her eyes, as he prepares his ship to take off. "I'm sorry, but a better life on some planet with inhabitants that aren't trying to kill you anytime soon, with people who could actually help you get a job, find food and a place to stay," he states, as he puts his things into his ship, "I was a king once Echidna, not just a prince, a king, and I was so close to bringing my people together before I was betrayed..." Echidna moves a stray hair form her eyes, watching the man clench his hands at the memories. "Those nobles, traitors I had thought were my friends, plotted my removal from the throne, and still likely plot the demise of my younger cousin, the new king," He goes up the ramp that the spaceport they had landed in had given him, and he stared down at Echidna at its base, "I cannot let them stay alive, lest they plot to overthrow him and truly end my uncle's line for good..." He looks down at her, the girl before him tearing up as he prepares to leave, and he coldly turns his back towards her. "I'm sorry Paras, but I just- I can't right now, maybe if things were different..." he looks up at the sky, the setting sun, as a tearful Echidna looks up, "Right now, I don't have time for love, not when my world, my family needs me." She doesn't even move from her spot as he leaves, the roar of engines and turbines muted beyond the tears and the screams she cries out, watching him leave this new world, and her, behind in the cold air of the spaceport.

Lala and Rito watch as Echidna Paras stares up at her lost opportunities, as his ship disappears like a star against the twilight sky. Lala has drawn closer to the girl, trying to put her own hands on the Echidna,who had fallen to the ground crying as she gripped the newly bought dress she was wearing. Though Lala had been unable to give her physical comfort, she was close enough to her her next few words, feeling them strike her heart. "I could've been your family," she mutely cries, as someone comes over to usher her and her cargo out of the hanger Creed had been given upon landing. Dragging behind a small container of luggage and an extra chest that both Rito and Lala had noticed Echidna keep in her cottage, she is led to a vehicle of some kind that takes her to a processing facility. Assigned quarters, an identity card allowing purchase of food, and a job, Lala and Rito watch the girl go from lively, to sullen and reserved as she places her things in an all to big, all too empty living space.

Ignoring her clothes, they watched the girl place her older looking bag on her bed, and Rito notices just how old it looks from the wear and tear, noticing the cracks it has in its wood frame. Lala calls Rito over just as Echidna prepares to open it. Leaning over a shoulder each, they watch with anticipation as Echidna opens the mysterious container, revealing two separate compartments lined with red velvet and pillows, and holding two very small, precious objects inside of them. Rito notices the oily Black Pearl, while Lala is transfixed by the gleaming White Pearl. Looking over both of them before closing up them back into the montainer, Rito and Lala oth turn to each other in surprise that she had so casually hide two of the most powerful objects in the universe in a suitcase, before turning to Echidna herself. Gone where the tears and sadness, having cried herself out on the long journey from the spaceport, now replaced with anger and determination. "I left my life behind, I left my duty behind on that planet, hoping I could join you in your travels," she states tonelessly, "I would have told you the reason why I wished to leave, that I had my own plans to find a place to hide these precious treasures... I could have even let you know why I wanted to join you, but you left me here..." She falls back onto her bed, not even caring anymore, "Very well, its your loss Creed, but I have a new journey to undertake now, I must hide the Pearls, before they get stolen from me, or worse." Rito and Lala watch the girl close her eyes, before she opens them with renewed determination. Before anything could go further, Rito and Lala once again found their surroundings changing, and deposited back into the white void.

I had never shown him my power in that time, but later learning that his 'gods' were my ancestors, I truly felt pity for him. He sought help from a group of people that were long gone from the universe, people that had left behind my ancestors to live their lives, while the rest returned to a far away promise of an ancient home in a long forgotten galaxy. Seeing him wish to leave me like that, when I had exactly what he wanted, what the whole universe wanted, I realized that I had to hide the Pearls away. I found an ancient temple of my people on an uninhabited, barren world, which my ancestors had abandoned during the first Great Galactic War. I found a way to transform myself into an incorporeal guardian using its advanced technology, but not before plunging the ancient structure into the planet's massive underground caverns. My people had planned to transform the planet for their needs, and finding a massive device capable of altering the planet's structure at will, I chose to activate it in an attempt to erase the traces of my people, of the Pearls from the universe. It worked until miners became interested in the heavy deposits, and with them they brought attention to this planet. Eventually Tigris Industries became interested in hunting down any traces of the Taoist civilization, searching for the Pearls, and if it were not for your Mother and her friend, the Pearls would be in the wrong hands.

Appearing before them once more, the now adult looking Echidna Paras stands with a contemplative look on her face. "So, you know my history now, of what the Pearl's are capable of," she says, "So what will you do with this knowledge?" Rito and Lala met each others eyes. Lala held out her half of the white pearl, while Rito produced his. Placing them together, they close their eyes and concentrate.

"It's time we face the truth," Rito says softly to Lala, neither opening their eyes, "We wouldn't change anything for ourselves." Lala feels the power of the Pearl come together, as the two halves become one whole.

"So we're decided then?" Lala declares, opening her eyes to face Rito, "I can't do it alone, though..." Rito opens his eyes, smiling.

"Never again," he states, as they grasp the newly remade pearl in their conjoined hold, "Together we face the future, always." Echidna watches with a smile as the world begins to swirl with a newborn energy, emanating from the Pearl, consuming Rito and Lala, and then filling the void with impossible colors.

"It seems I chose right," she says, as a wave of energy heads for her, "Safe travels Lala-chi, Rito-kun, may your endings be-" As the wave of gray light consumes her, it expands. The void is no more.

Reality is remade.

 **A/N: Honestly went way out of left field this chapter...**

 **I do not own To-Love Ru.**

 **So take the first color from each of the previous chapters, add their names and you get this little tidbit:**

 **V. Momo**

 **I. Nana**

 **B. Yui**

 **G. Run**

 **Y. Golden Darkness**

 **O. Mikan**

 **R. Haruna**

 **VIBGYOR/ROYGBIV**


	50. The End?

**A/N: I do not own To-Love Ru**  
 **We now return to our regularly scheduled programming...**

 _Deviluke Throne Room_

When the first drops of blood hit the floor, the room freezes in a collective breath to see what happens next. Creed smiles as he grasps Rito by the shoulders, removing Zastin's spiked tail from his enemies chest, freshly flecked with crimson liquid. Rito falls to the floor, pushed down with Creed's help, as he begins to laugh out loud at seeing the shock on Rito's face. "Rito?" Lala cries out, as she struggles against her sisters holding her back, " _RITO, NOOOO!_ " She breaks free, the pearl tucked into her dress falling out as she tumbles to the floor in despair. With a clink of stone on stone, the silken wrapping rolls free and out onto the cold floor to reveal its contents to the room. " _RITO!_ " Lala cries out, as she reaches out for him, "Rito, no!" The room catches the opalescent orb in such a way it shines for the barest of seconds, before it muddles the light that shines onto it. Creed stares down at the princess at his feet, as she sits over her faced down, dying lover, within the small pool of blood leaking from beneath him. He doesn't waste a minute to do as he pleases with his prize before him, taking the fallen princess roughly by her hair, dragging her up screaming in pain and misery.

"Now witch, for polluting my families bloodline..." Creed states staring the defiant princess down, as she looks up at him with broiling hatred and... fearful understanding? Reflexively letting go of her, Lala stumbles back down onto the floor, landing hard as Creed looks on. "Wh-what..." he states out of confusion, looking down at his hands, which have begun to tremble, "What are y-you doing to me witch?" He looks up seeing nothing but a sliver of understanding on her face, despite the cruel way he handled her. "I don't understand, your eyes, they speak- pain, understanding..." He steps back, nearly stumbling over Rito's body lying on the floor, "Why do I see wisdom in your eyes?" He fearfully glances down at the floor, and sees for the first time the pearl on the floor between them. It had lost its luster, a pale, ashy gray instead of the pure white he knew it should be. "The pearl!" Creed hisses, looking straight up at Lala in anger, as the fallen princess wipes a streak of blood from her cut lip, "What did you do?" The fallen prince goes to move forward, to beat the answers out of the princess as to why the Pearl was altered, but he suddenly stops as he feels something grab at his tail.

Creed turns to see what it was his tail has caught upon, when he feels his heart skip another beat as he realizes a bloodied hand belonging to the fallen Rito, now grasps the base of his tail. He notices that the left hand has been run through by the looks of the blood flowing freely from it as the body shifts, and Rito stares up in defiant anger at the shell-shocked soldier. "S-sur-prise!" Rito hoarsely states with a bloody looking smile, red flowing from the corner of his mouth, "You don't get to k-kill me that easily, you cheating bastard!" Creed's eyes widen as Rito pulls himself up to a kneeling position, keeping Zastin's body where it is by grasping the rest of the base of his tail with his free hand, causing him discomfort as he applies pressure to it. Grimacing as he goes to break the boys hands, Rito savagely smiles up at him, causing his heart to skip a beat in surprise.

 _ **/CRACK/**_

Eyes widen around the whole room, no more surprised than Creed/Zastin, as the two howl as one at the sudden burst of paralyzing, breathtaking pain that surges into his weary body. Falling tot he floor in unimaginable agony, Creed could only wish his back had been broken, as numbness would be preferred to the destructive act Rito had just done to his host's body, mercilessly. Rito had literally snapped the cartilage making up his sensitive, flexible tail up, rendering it veritably useless and limp. He felt lucky that Rito had only decided to break the base, if he had any intent of actually hurting Zastin, the more lithe and harder to repair tip would have rendered him unable to use his energy shots, or worse, caused his body to reactively shoot a massive blast of energy in defense, likely killing them both in the exchange. Lala stared in wonder at her husband to be, as she stares down in pity at Creed. He could live through the agony and be manageable until they deal with him and return control to Zastin; if Rito had not made it a clean break, Zastin could possibly even regain use of the fractured appendage within a year of therapy.

"You're alive!" Lala cries out, jumping onto him from her spot so close, she watches him wince in return, "You're hurt, bleeding, where?" She grabs his left hand, the now bloody ring still on it, while a clean cut seems to have been made through his palm, cleaving bone. He gasps in pain as she gingerly handles it, looking up and noticing his shirt, now heavily stained with blood. Quickly ripping his shirt open, she realizes that while Creed had indeed cut into Rito's chest, thankfully it seemed that Rito had had his hand in the way, turning a possible fatality into a minor wound that seemed more bloody than it actually was. "It wasn't a dream!" she cries out, hugging him and remembering her life flash before her eyes, a world where Rito had actually died from the impalement, "Don't ever leave me..." He chuckles weakly in response, as Lala gently helps him stand, intent on helping him to a doctor or a nurse for aid.

"Don't -wheeze- think y-you've beat me, Rito," the broken form of Creed/Zastin states from the armed guards now holding him back, "I may have lost, but now Zastin will never return to you, not while I control this body..." He smiles, a crazed look in his eyes as he stares a battered Rito and a bruised Lala down. Creed tries to break free of his guards, only for someone to walk up to him and slap him across the face. Lala and Rito stare in surprise at who it was that approached Creed, while Rin and Aya try to restrain the angry woman who is suddenly beginning to tear up.

"Don't- don't you dare make threats like that, with his voice, you m-monster!" Saki states, standing and staring a surprised Creed down, as he is befuddled as to whom this girl is, "My Zastin would never make threats to the people he loves, my Zastin would never be so heartless or cruel as to take another love from this life so carelessly..." She slaps him once more, this time a back hand, and the terror in his eyes is genuine, while no one tries to stop the heiress. "My Zastin would never go so far as to be so... dishonorable, to cheat, betray, and backstab someone he treated like a friend," Saki states, tears having pooled and emptied from her eyes, as sobs begin to wrack her body, " A-and m-my Z-Zastin, wou-would come back t-to me!" Creed is honestly stunned by the girl assaulting him, and Rin and Aya finally manage to pull her away from the man, so he can be taken away. She stares as Creed is lifted up and taken before the King, who stares down at the man who had underhandedly taken him down, leaving a bruised ego and an angry King in his place.

"I will find a way to break your hold over Zastin, and I will get you back my friend," King Gid states in a surprising act of tenderness, putting a hand on Zastin/Creed's shoulder, before his face turns hard and merciless, "Creed Diskenth, for crimes against the crown of Deviluke, against the very family you and your families descendants have sworn to protect, you are hereby-"

"Wait!" Rito croaks from his leaning position against Lala, who stops to look up at him in concern, "Please, King Gid, don't judge him- not yet, since I believe I have something-ngghh." Rito grimaces in pain as he shifts on his weary legs, walking slowly over to the forgotten pearl on the floor, holding his hand to his somewhat bleeding chest. Lala goes to stop him from picking up the pearl barehanded, before she realizes that he already has it in his hands, grasping it tightly as he shifts to get up. "Trust me, Lala," Rito smiles a dazzling her, causing her heart to skip a beat, before he leans in to whisper in her ear, "We promised to help her, remember?" Lala blinks in surprise, but she nods and chooses to trust Rito's decisions. He walks up to Creed, held back by two armed men, even as he tries to fight Rito's touch. "I want to know why, Creed, why you would hide yourself within Zastin, why go after Lala, why attack me at all? Rito asks, holding his gaze with Greed, who stares up at him brimming with hate, "Because I know a little bit about you from everything you've said and my own experiences, I know you still wanted to return to your planet, become a Hero that made everyone proud; so why is it you've returned the villain of everyone else's story?" Creed's anger turns to confusion at Rito's words.

"Take, for example, the fact you wanted to return, if only to save your cousin from traitorous nobles who could have betrayed him," Rito asks, turning to look up at the pictures on the vaulted ceiling above, "These walls tell that he lived on, even without you saving him, and King Gid, even Zastin whose body you inhabit now, shows somehow that you weren't needed; time passed on without you, Creed." Creed grits his teeth at that, but Rito patiently reflects on his next words. "You're fighting for a cause that died out an innumerable amount of years, centuries, past, yet here you are proving that your family was right to exile you," Rito lets a smirk ghost his face, before letting that feeling pass, "If you were even half as honorable as the man whose body you now inhabit was, you'd have realized whatever hate you're holding onto isn't yours, whatever misguided sense of right and wrong you have left, isn't yours..." He spies the forgotten sword that had once been his, the Ninth Blade, forgotten on the floor, so he limps as retrieves it and brings it back to lean on it in front of Creed. "This sword, did you know it once held the monster that used your body, perverted your legacy into one of bloodshed, until I burned him all away?" Creed stares at the blade as Rito talks, entranced by his dirtied reflection in the gleaming blade, "I never knew the blade wasn't whole, that a piece of it was purposely withheld to cause me problems- except you feel it, don't you?" Rito kneels down to become eye level with Creed, as he holds the sword flat on his palms. "Adam is balanced, he was born from a part of myself, and he has never tasted the blood of spilled innocents, but you Creed, but you feel it, don't you?" Rito sees Creed sweating, darting between the sword and himself, "The hunger... the thirst that seems unquenchable, the desire to feel it again run over you... the real reason you're targeting Lala isn't the crown, or honor, or even really hatred."

Rito stands up and pulls the sword away, as Creed fights against restraints to follow him as he walks away. Rito grasps the handle of the sword, looking between Creed and it, before he plunges it into the floor, cracking the stone he embedded it in. Creed howls as he watches Rito plunge it deeper and deeper into the stone, burying it halfway into the impossibly thick stone. The face of the man named Zastin contorts to anger, as the body of the possessed man begins to foam at the mouth and thrash in the grip of the men holding him tight, as everyone watches. "That is not the face of a man possessed by his ancestor, but a parasitic blade still pretending to be more than a weapon, and I'm ashamed to note I didn't notice it at first," Rito states, looking at Creed with disdain, "So stop pretending before you force me to do something drastic to Zastin, something I think he or you will survive unless YOU. LEAVE." Rito pulls his own sword, and positions himself between Zastin/Creed and the sword. "I'll give you a choice, leave Zastin, prove that whatever bit of Creed Diskenth is inside there is still an honorable man, worthy of redemption," Riot offers, as he pulls his sword and holds it as if to aim at the air, charging it with a bit of his own power and setting it aflame in a dark blaze, "Or prove to us your the monster you all really are, a monster I'd be glad to kill more than once!" Tiredly holding the sword up and weak from his wounds, Rito begins to let the sword fall blade first, until Creed calls out in alarm.

" **STOP!** " Creed yells out in fear, as Rito's blade stops mid-swing. The action was enough, even as it stops in its arc by Rito, the glint of light is enough to reveal the truth before everyone. Darkness spreads across invisible threads, a hum of energy and sound makes it seem like a strum of a guitar, and the connection spreads between sword and wielder. Creed snarls as he stares up at Rito, the threads of metal connecting him to the sword now exposed, and Rito smirks knowing he has made his point. "Why do you care, Rito," Creed asks, as he looks around the room at everyone around him, "These people, all they know of my holder is that he was bodyguard, a lackey, easily replaced, so why do you care?" Rito's smile diminishes at that question, turning into a frown.

"Do you really understand his position then, Creed?" Rito sets his sword down and kneels to get into a better sitting position, his legs failing him, "Sure, he may not be a prince, or in line to be king, but he is more than just a bodyguard, he's a boss, a friend, a rival, and he's so much more to the people you see around you..." Rito smiles and chuckles at Creed's obliviousness. "He was my teacher, both in my duties as a prince consort and a swordsmen, he is my friend, and I think everyone would agree that Zastin doesn't deserve everything that's happened here," Rito says, looking over at Saki for a moment before focusing back on Creed, "You once had someone you loved, didn't you Creed; why take the opportunity to figure out he's loved just as you were once, away from the woman who loves him?" Saki is blushing at his words, as Creed looks from Rito to the young Tenjouin woman, and he stares at the young maiden. As if he understands, Creed smirks, a chuckle escaping his lips, before he looks back to Rito.

"Well, Rito Yuuki, it seems you had lower standards than I thought, if you consider a man like me worth redeeming, but I finally understand your point," Creed states, before he looks up at Rito as neutrally as possible, "If you truly are as good and fair a man as you are proving to be, Yuuki Rito, then promise me something..." Rito nods, looking him straight in the eye to at least listen to his request. "Promise that Creed Diskenth won't be the name haunting these halls as the man who nearly ruined his planet over selfish interests, but as the man who always had the best interests of his people at heart, even if they didn't always understand," he chuckles and lets his head fall down to his chest, "Let it be known that he didn't sacrifice his life for his people in vain, that he wished to become the hero of his own story until he was imprisoned by a monster within a place so dark that it ate away at his mind and morals, until a brave young child burned away that darkness and reminded him to never lose hope in the ever changing future..." Going limp in the arms of the guards, Creed Diskenth releases Zastin. The burning threads between the sword and Zastin begin to collapse, as the threads retract themselves back to the sword.

"Sorry, Creed, but t won't be that easy," Rito states, grabbing the threads from the air, surprising everyone as he reveals the Taoist Pearl in his other hand, "I can't l-live knowing your stuck within a sword, and I won't force you back into a never ending sleep until the next foolish warrior comes along..." Grasping the threads and keeping the sword immobile, Rito feels as the others coming to approach him, to stop him, force him to let go. "No, stop, let me do this!" He yells out, as he stares at Gid, who is charging his energy in his fists, or Darkness who is readying herself for another fight, or even Kuro with his weapon charging Tao energy, "I need to do this- I can't let this stupid, cursed sword claim another life with its madness, but..." He doesn't even need to speak, before he feels Lala at his back, grabbing him by the shoulder with one hand, before resting her own hand over his containing the pearl.

"We do it together than, forever and always," she states, resting her head against his as they both concentrate on the pearl, while the sword begins to scream with energy, "We can't change anything for ourselves, but we will always face the future together!" As the energy begins to pick up turning into a whirlwind that surrounds both sword and user with an impenetrable wall of darkness, the cascade of outcast dark energy and sounds of screaming is joined by two more voices emitted from the center of the storm. The others are forced to watch as the cascade of energy sends bolts that strike stone walls, leaving scorched marks in their wake. A high pitched burst of energy is felt as a concussive wave forces the unprepared to be blow back, leaving only Gid and Darkness standing to watch, while the others recovered to see the storm of energy collapse into itself, ceasing all energy output. Finally the unnatural wind dies down, as the swirling wall of darkness begins to dissipates, revealing Lala and Rito lying on the floor next to each other, the pearl between the grasp split in two halves, and the sword embedded in the stone gone, along with most of the ground itself. Yami approaches to grab the two halves of the pearl, knowing she would be unaffected, only for the broken artifact to crumble to dust before she could even remove them from Rito and Lala's conjoined hands. Momo and Nana then approached their older sister who was left in the torn and tattered remnants of her wedding dress, now ruined beyond repair.

Momo whispers something to Nana, who then gets up to grab a jacket from the nearest man, who happens to be Saruyama holding Rito's forgotten blazer before engaging in the fight. Nana took the jacket and placed it over her sisters battered form before picking her up to carry her, while Momo hefted Rito with her own hands to take them both to somewhere they could be treated. If anyone had noticed Rito's hand as it fell limply to his side, save the ever observant Yami, they would have noticed the once black ring on his hand now matching Lala's own golden colored band, dripping slightly of blood. This was forgotten in the chaos of the moment, as the smallish cut in Rito's abdomen had only grown with every ragged breath and strained step, forcing more unseen damage to reveal itself and making it apparent they both required medical attention

 **OoOoOoOoO**

Waking was the hardest thing for Rito to do, though the fact he felt incredibly warm and was having a nice dream regarding an all too friendly pup licking him all over, forced him to surrender to the blinding light trying to dig into his skull through his eyes. Groaning as he covers his eyes to filter out the harsh light, allowing his tired eyelids to discard the sleep from them and allow an adjustment period, he tries to shift away from the light but finds it difficult. Taking in a deep breath, he smells the familiar scent of ginger and pears, and he chooses to abandon the futile quest of joining the waking world, if it meant snuggling deeper into the warmth and familiarity of the body pressing against his own. "Good morning, Lala," he mumbles to the warm, familiar body that he now realizes is licking his neck, "S-stop, it's too early for this, princess..." She seems to ignore him and continues to suck away at his unprotected neck, this time seeming to get a bit more suction as she shifts her own body into a more comfortable position, gently straddling his leg and pinning his leg under her. He smiles as he attempts to open his eyes again, before he feels her long, pink locks flow over his nose, tickling him as they cover his face from her shifting. "Lala, be serious now, wake up," he says, trying to force her off with his free hand, "If you keep straddling me like that, I might get..." Rito blinks when he finally realizes that beyond Lala, sitting up and staring him down from the foot of the bed, is a pissed off looking Nana and Mikan, with a sleeping Peke dozing between them, whose combined scowls cause Rito's heart to skip a beat in fear.

"Wait, it's not what it looks like!" He springs up, knocking Lala to the side, still drooling in her sleep from sucking on his clavicle, "I swear, she was just here when I woke up-" He stops when he realizes that this isn't his room, and that the bed he was sleeping on had actually been two of those kind of beds you find in a hospital pushed together. It seemed that Lala had been sleeping on her own side, before finding her way next to him like she always seemed to do in her sleep. He almost forgot how much he missed waking up to the sometimes innocent body contact, before his brain caught up to him and realized he was sitting in a hospital room with very little memory telling him how he got there. "What happened, and why is Lala sleeping next to me?" he asks, looking up at Mikan and Nana, as he swings his body to the side, trying to get out of the hospital bed, when he notices the gauze covering his left hand and the left side of his body, "Why do I look like a mummy, and fell like I've been stab-" Rito didn't even get to finish his sentence when he was jumped by Mikan and tossed back onto the bed by her force.

"IDIOT!" she cries out in tears, quite opposite to her earlier reaction to the situation Rito woke up to, "You had us all worried, I thought I was going to have to tell Mom and Dad you died in space fighting an alien parasite!" Rito feels her sobs against the thin hospital clothing, that truly was universal it seemed, and he felt the hot tears soak his gown as they streamed down her face. "We-we thought you died on the o-operating t-table-" she says, causing Rito's eyes to widen as he lets her continue, "We thought it was your body reacting to the alien drugs, but you seemed to stop crashing when Lala-" She stopped speaking, descending into fresh tears and sobbing, when Momo steps in from the outside, let in by Nana who went to tell the others.

"Our sister got struck by one of those energy bolts you were giving off when you both were holding the pearl, she won't have any nerve damage thankfully, but she now has a scar over her sternum now that looks pretty wicked," Momo supplies, taking over for Mikan, "She fought tooth and nail against us insisting she was fine, after her dress was literally burned away from her body, just so she could be near you while Mikado and the castle surgeons were patching you up from Creed's underhanded attack..." She walks to her sister's side and wipes away a bit of drool with a smile on her face, leaning against the bed as she looks back over to Rito. "After Lala showed up, the doctors had an easier time getting you to cooperate with them, so she stayed up all night watching over you to help you make it through the night, even had us bring in another bed so she could sleep with you." Momo brushes a little bit of hair from her sister's eyes that had caused her to scrunch up her nose and make a face at the offending follicles. "We think something happened in that storm, whether it was the bolt or the pearl, something has connected you two unexpectedly," Momo brings up her left hand as she speaks and taps her ring finger, "Check out what you and my sister now share in common, despite the fact that you and her haven't been declared official." Rito looks at his bandaged hand, removing it from under the firmly planted Mikan who was slowing down in her sobbing, and unwrapping the gauze to reveal a nearly healed looking hand adorned with a pink and orange encrusted, golden ring.

"But we aren't married yet?" Rito croaks in confusion, as he sets his hand on Mikan's head to soothe her, "How can the rings have been activated, if they were only meant to be activated by Lala and I marrying each other and becoming husband and wife?" Momo chuckles at that, as she tries to gently wake up Lala from her spot on the bed.

"Yeah, we got in touch with some experts on soul metals, the same people who created the rings, and they were just as stumped as we are," Momo states, as she pokes her elder sister in the cheek, hoping to annoy her into the waking world, "Best guess we can make is that it is something with that pearl, or that crazy dark energy storm you conjured up when the sword disappeared..." Rito raises his eyebrows at that, turning to look over at Momo, just as there is a knock at the door. Lala yawns as she awakens, sleepily looking up at her sister and their friends as they come in from outside of the room.

"How is my cinder-fella doing?" Nemesis states as she glides in behind Nana and Yami, Mikado holding Celine as they walk in behind her, "Seems like you're up and about, and ready to face the world with more questions than answers now, eh?" Mikan pulls away from the bed, straightening herself back up now that everyone else is in the room, and allowing Nemesis to saddle up the side that Rito was hanging off of. Mikado passes Celine off to Mikan before approaching Rito's bedside with a chart from the foot of the beds. "Ryoko-sensei thought you were going to die before she ever warped over here," Nemesis states cheekily, brushing her body against Rito to hang off of the bed, "Quite a brave thing risking your life in an honor duel, then risk both of your necks destroying one of the most important Taoist artifacts in the known galaxies, along with your possessed sword; I didn't know you had it in you to sow such chaos, Rito!" Her smile is unnerving as she hangs off of him, much to his discomfort and the glares from Nana, Momo, Mikan, and the others in the room.

"King Gid and Queen Sephie will be quite pleased to hear their son-in-law has woken up from his coma, Rito, and I'm sure your parents will be relieved when we alert them to your status as well," Mikado states with a smile, while Rito focuses on the word 'coma', fearing the worst at that word, yet Ryoko raises a hand to ease him, "You've only been a sleep for a little over a week at most, it took me a bit of time to get here after all from earth, but I was able to help your recovery process since I'm the one most familiar with your new biology." She smiles down at Nemesis, catching the living weapon's gaze for a second, before returning her bright eyed smile to Rito and Lala, who groggily leaned against Rito as the later tried to fully wake up. "When the castle physicians informed me that your wounds weren't healing when they were stitching you up, even with only a basic understanding of human physiology, I knew that it was something more to do with either your newly activated Trans genomes, or the dark matter infused into your various cells and tissues," Mikado announces, keeping eye contact with Rito, despite the added distraction of Lala pressing against him, as Nemesis did the same on his other shoulder, "Unfortunately what I found was both promising, and concerning..." She brings up the clipboard with more information on its pages, thumbing through them as she read them over. "Since your initial wound hadn't been healing, even growing worse and causing other problems to crop up in your major organs, I thought the problem was something with your blood clotting factor, or perhaps your kidney's failing to filter something out, but what I found needed confirmation from someone more suited to your 'unique' physiology," Mikado states, "Which is why I just had Nemesis run a full body analysis on your cells and the nanites in your body, as I didn't want to alert you to the news, in case what I found was... dire."

Nemesis pulls away as Rito looks down at the mischievous imp, Lala finally becomes alert once she realizes that this line of talk was becoming serious. "Is Rito going to be okay Mikado-sensei?" Lala asks, as she refuses to let go of Rito's arm in concern. Mikado nods, as Nemesis goes to stand between Yami and Nana.

"As far as I can tell, he's not there anymore, Ryoko," Nemesis states looking up at the school's alien nurse, "I searched all of the nanites within Rito's body, and though they do seem to be breaking down the excess dark matter in his system, they aren't showing any signs of his presence." In the confusion of that statement, Yami raised her eyes in confusion as if she understood what Nemesis was stating. The raven haired delinquent turns to the rest of the room and puts it simply for them all. "Rito shared his body with the Trans Weapon born of the Ninth Blade, myself, and the power of the Black Taoist Pearl, he was the 'filter' for Rito's excess energy," Nemesis states, "When we retrieved the First Blade from the throne room I couldn't find Adam's energy within it either, I can only assume that Adam's last act to save Rito was the sacrifice of his life energy to infuse him with his own energy, giving him enough time to do what he could against Creed until he finally ran out doing whatever it was with the pearl and the Ninth Blade." Rito looks down at himself, grasping his chest and over his heart with his left hand, feeling the phantom pain of the sharp tail piercing his body. Knowing Adam was gone, it hurt Rito knowing a part of him had sacrificed itself to save the whole, yet despite the pain he felt, new opportunities to spend the rest of his life with Lala gave him hope he could heal from this revelation. He grabs Lala's left hand with his right, squeezing it gently as he looked over to her, before Ryoko cleared her throat.

"Physically, even a couple of days ago I would have had grim prospects for Rito's health, but I believe I have a theory in the works as to the sudden change," Mikado states, as Nemesis nods in agreement, "Before you woke up Rito, Lala was also in a coma for a few days, in that time your health began to deteriorate and required many life support systems to keep you alive, up until Lala woke up." She moves over to Lala's side of the two beds, Momo graciously moving back to allow the doctor to approach Lala and grab her hand to study it. "Lala insisted that she be near you while your health was at its most critical, and it was as if her presence was actually improving your health the longer she stayed by your side, allowing us to ease you off of medical instruments until we were sure you were stable enough to leave the two of you alone with one of us on constant rotation as we all waited for you to wake up." Mikado produces a needle from her pocket, a cotton swab, and a sterile wipe and looked to Lala, who nodded and flexed her hand. Finding a vein and swabbing it, she pricks the needle into her arm and slowly takes a blood sample from her. "Your body had been flushed with enough dark matter that it had attacked itself trying to rid itself of the excess, so with your miraculous recovery I merely assumed Adam had simply woken up from whatever had knocked him out, it hadn't occurred to me that I was looking at this all wrong," Mikado states as she holds up the vial of blood, swirling it a bit, "Yami, would you draw the blinds, and Momo, would you get the door and lights?" Both nodded, the blonde girl drawing the heavy curtains over the window, muting the light in room, before Momo got the lights after closing the door shut.

Plunging the room into darkness, everyone was quite shocked by the sight of light still in the room. Mikado still held the vial up, and from within it golden light drifted like a lava lamp in the Devilukean Princess' blood. Blinking as the light turned back on, Rito noticed the smile on Mikado's face as she turned back to Rito and Lala. "Ladies and gentleman, I believe that we've discovered the reason why Rito made a miraculous recovery, though I will need to do a bit more comprehensive tests with your permission princess," She smiles and pockets the vial, "For now I wouldn't suggest staying apart more than you need to, we don't want to test Rito's limits after having his immune system as compromised as it is, but as of now I can safely say Rito is in perfect health; better than even after the initial accident if I say so myself, and I do." Ryoko looks to the others in the room and motions for them to leave. "As your doctor, I expect you both to keep interactions with everyone else after this to a minimum, just rest up and in a few days of testing I can clear you both to return to Earth," she puts her arms on her hips and looks down everyone else in the room, "So if we aren't dropping off meals, or handing out medicine to either of them, I suggest we all just stay clear of these two lovebirds and let Rito make himself presentable after a week of no bathing..." Shooing the others out of the room, Ryoko winks at Rito and the boy blushes in return at her honesty, as he takes a whiff and realizes he was in fact in need of a shower.

Lala gets up off of the bed, as Rito slowly moves of the bed, feeling still a bit weak despite having held a conversation with everyone else. He feels something hit his back, and he turns, only to get whiplash as he turns away from Lala stripping out of her own hospital issued clothes. "L-Lala, what are you doing?" he asks blushing, despite feeling little more than a thin gown and nothing else on his body now that the covers are off of his overly warm body. He hears her giggle, before he feels the bed shift and her arms snake around his neck, as he tries to fight off the thoughts entering his head as bare skin touches his exposed back.

"We may not be officially married yet, Rito, but the rings don't lie about our status," she purrs into his ear, causing him to gulp out of nervous habit, "You know I've already seen it before, more than once in fact, but if it helps I promise not to look 'down there'." She giggles again as she feels him stiffen against her, as she lets an arm fall down the chest of his gown. "I've always been a good girl, Rito, but now that we're as good as married, I felt it only proper for a wife to do things for her husband, seeing as he's just woken up from a soma, and is in no place to overtax himself," she states, her eyes closed as she sets her head on his shoulder, "I've been staying by your side for the past couple of days, I've barely had the stomach to eat while you've been hurt, and while I don't stink as bad as you I need a bath too, so please, Rito, give me this..." He hesitates, weighing her words and sighing as he realizes everything she says is right, he nods and sees the smile on her face from the corners of his eyes. Rito doesn't even complain as he feels her tug at the loose string held up by his neck, as the rough fabric falls from his body, exposing his body to the cool air of the hospital room. He shivers as Lala scoots off of the bed on his side, her tail wrapping itself around his arm to pull him along, as she looks back pleadingly and he caves. Following her into the bathroom, he doesn't even pass out once, and the refreshing feeling of sweat and grime being washed away by soap and warm water soothes his fraying nerves.

When Lala hands him a set of real clothes, after drying himself off without her watching, he dresses himself and steps outside the bathroom to find Lala dozing on the edge of the bed in expectation of him. He walks around her feet and joins her in the odd positioning of his body across the bed, as lays on his side and relishes in the serene beauty she projects even in her sleep, the innocence on her face reminding him how lucky he was to survive everything thrown at him this far, and all worth it for seeing her here like this. He ruins the moment as he pokes her on the nose, giving her a start as she opens her eyes to find Rito lying next to her. "Oh, I fell asleep again?" she states, yawning and trying to wake back up, "Ever since I've been staying near you, it seems my energy all just drained out of me; I guess we know why, now, if I was helping you heal..." Rito smiles and nods in agreement, as he grabs her ringed hand with his own, staring at the golden, bejeweled band and thinking.

"Lala, would it be bad if I said I wanted-" he pauses, looking her in the eyes to speak with her, "If I wanted to wait to make this official?" Lala sits up, blinking as she tries to figure out just exactly it was he was saying. "D-don't get me wrong, I'm not regretting anything, but o-our marriage, I don't- I don't want to rush into this right now," Rito sits up, his legs falling over the bed as he scoots to the edge, turning back to Lala to say, "I still want to finish school, and I already don't know how I'm going to explain missing a month or more of school already, let alone try and catch up before tests come up..." He turns to her, putting a finger to her lips as he stares into her eyes with a hesitant smile. "Please, don't get me wrong, I know I'm basically going to be king and everything when I marry you, but I still want to accomplish this on my own before I get thrust into that role," he states, removing his finger and finding her smiling in return, "You- you're not mad at me?" Lala shakes her head, grabbing both of Rito's hands in her own and smiling still.

"I understand, Rito, I know gallivanting halfway across the universe and back wasn't exactly what you were expecting to do halfway through the spring term, but I think you're right in wanting to finish this up," she states, much to his relief, "I'll support you anyway I can, that's what a wife does for her husband, isn't it?" Rito smiles and leans in close to Lala, much to her surprise. After a quick kiss, an exchanging of saliva, Rito breaks it off and smiles back at her.

"I love you, Lala," he states, hugging her close to him as she laughs in surprise from the physical contact, "Thank you, I can't tell you how much this means to me!" Lala leans onto his shoulder one last time, smiling up at him before she roughly drags him back down onto the bed with her on top.

"Maybe you can show me how much it means to you," she purrs seductively, before pulling away and putting her finger to her lips as if pondering something, "Then, maybe, I'll find a way to help you catch up with everyone else!" He smirks at her less than innocent suggestion, then pulls her down onto him squealing, with a renewed bout of kissing, this time less chaste and much more surprisingly, full of talent.

 **A/N: Whelp, I think that does it for the main story...**  
 **Expect an epilogue coming up soon, as I start writing up those one-shots I promised earlier. Thanks for staying with me on my writing journey, and please don't forget to favorite and follow my story for updates!**


	51. The Future is Epilogue

_Epilogue ~_

 _Earth_

Rito sighed as he stretched in the morning sun, finally happy to be home after being cooped up in Zastin's former spaceship. Maul and Smutts were both pulling double duty, taking over for their bedridden commander, who was still healing from the damage that had been inflicted on him while under Creed's control. While he was strong, Zastin's body had been extremely fatigued and nearly pushed to its limits, and would have kept going until he died had Rito not disabled him by breaking the Devilukean's tail. As painful and uncomfortable as it left him feeling, the commander had ensured both Rito and King Gid he would be up and about within a months time, after they had safely reset his tail and given it time to heal. With a clear conscience and a weight lifted off his shoulders, Rito had gone home with Lala and her sisters, as Mikan and others had gone home with Mikado and Yami, since neither ships nor their captains were required anymore.

Before he had gone home, though, he had explained to King Gid and Queen Sephie that despite their readiness to be married, that he wished to postpone the proceedings for a bit, until he had graduated from his life on Earth. He had even expressed his wishes of plans for a wedding on Earth, having discussed them with Lala and suggesting they have the ceremony there to ensure his parent's could actually be on planet for the important day. Sephie had been supportive of him, happy that he was willing to take care of Lala despite everything that had recently happened, while Gid had been staring down at him in silence, as if contemplating something. Rito had been a little nervous at that, but Gid's expressions changed on a whim as he began smiling and congratulating his son-in-law to be. "Very well, Rito, I will take your proposal for an Earth wedding into consideration, though some things may have to be dealt with in advance," Gid had replied, stroking his beardless chin in thought, smiling with his eyes closed, "I will inform you of my decision within the coming month, so wait to make your plans just yet oh future king, as I still have a say in the matter..." Rito had been happy that he had just left it at that, though he hopped they could have it on Earth so that they didn't have to abduct his parents from Earth like Lala had done that one night a few years back for christmas.

Now back on Earth, Rito had just departed from the ship with Lala, having been beamed to the front of his house where Mikan and the others who had already returned were waiting for them. "Onii-chan!" Mikan had excitedly declared, latching herself onto him with a hug, despite having seen him not more than a week prior, "Glad you're back." Celine had joined Mikan in her hug, while Nana and Momo hung onto their sister, chattering away about the ride home. "Come on, I'm sure you're tired," Mikan states, turning around and pulling Rito behind her, "I've got dinner going inside, and I think I made a bit much..." Lala finds herself shoved forward towards the door behind Rito, as they all head in together into the poorly lighted living room.

"Surprise!" a shout is heard as lights turn on all the way, party poppers and streamers suddenly flying in the air as the gathered group reveals itself. Rito and Lala are both surprised by the large group hidden in the living room, but the banner hanging above them makes it clear as to why they are all gathered together. "Congratulation's," it read, "Rito and Lala, for your Engagement!" Lala blushed as she smiled at all of her friends, Mio, Risa, Yui, her older brother Yuu, Saruyama, Run, and Kyouko, Shizu, and more of their friends, like Yami, Mea, Nemesis, Kuro, and even Mikado-sensei was there. Rito even blushed a little bit at seeing the hesitant Haruna Sairenji smiling, though he relaxed seeing her arm wrapped around the normally passionate Ren, who smiled and joked with the others, before approaching him and Lala while bringing Haruna with him.

"Congratulations Lala, Rito, I finally concede defeat to you, since it seems you and her have a connection I hope I can have one day," he says, smiling as he turns to look to Haruna and leaning down to kiss her, much to the shock of everyone. Haruna was blushing in shock, looking mortified and like she could faint, while Rito was just surprised that Ren had fallen in love with someone other than Lala, and that it had been his onetime crush, while Lala just seemed surprised and happy for Ren. Suddenly Rito was dragged backwards and turned around by blonde hair in the shape of hands, to face another happy looking couple as the black haired former assassin grinned like the Cheshire cat, while Yami stared him down with her ever usual expression.

"Yuuki Rito, as you have been formally engaged to the Princess of the Devil Star, and seeing as the Deviluke Empire has permanently hired myself and Black on as freelance agents, I have a gift for you," Yami states, as she rummages for something behind her back before pulling it out and holding it out, "As my previous contractor has been imprisoned and strip of his wealth and social rank, all stipulations in the contract for one Yuuki Rito to be dispatched, has been made null and void, allowing me to do this..." Taking it in both of her hands she rips it in two, much to the happiness of Rito, and the surprise of Lala. She smiles and bows to both Rito and Lala, before discarding the voided contract, now ripped to shreds. "We look forward to working with youin the future, Princess Lala," Yami bows slightly, followed by an impressed looking Kuro, "And congratulations on your engagement once more."

While everyone else was congratulating Rito and Lala, Mikan and Nana took the opportunity to slip out into another room, while Momo gathered everyone's attention. "Everyone, I'm sure you're all excited to be back here, to celebrate the official engagement between my Nee-chan and Rito, but there are some of us not here that we know Rito would appreciate knowing this exciting development," she announces, having gotten everyone curious to focus on her, "So now, without further ado, let's bring them out!" Everyone erupts in laughter as Mikan and Nana appear from around the corner of the kitchen and the living room, spreading out their hands in fanfare to invite two mysterious guests that were hidden from the rest. Rito's eyes widen, and the laughter of the room increases,as Rito and Mikan's mother and father both walk in to the surprise of their son and future daughter-in-law.

"Mom, Dad!" Rito states in surprise, both at the fact that Mikan was able to force their dad out of his studio for this event, but more so in the fact that Momo and Nana had managed to find their elusive mother in the chaotic game of airplane tag that her modeling agency kept her bouncing between countries with. He runs up to and hugs his mother first, smiling as his dad slaps him on the back while heartily laughing. Rito steps back and brings Lala to them for the first time as his fiancee. "I know you've met her, but Lala and I have decided to finally get married once I finish up school," Rito states, hesitant at first but confidence growing as he faces his parents, "I know it sounds sudden, but things happened, in space of all places, and I realized that if I wanted Lala to marry anyone... I wanted it to be me!" He leans over to kiss her on the cheek, and the normally cheerful Devilukean girl was surprisingly shy due to the display of affection in front of his parents.

"Finally, we already said we liked her Rito!" Ringo Yuuki states, as she hugs her husband close to her, smiling at both son and daughter, "We heard all about your adventures from Mikan, Nana, and Momo, and the darling Nakajima boy..." Suddenly a shadow crosses both of his parent's faces, which causes Rito to freeze in place. "But you see, we know we don't have the full details," his mother starts, "We just want to make sure our boy was raised right..."

"...as we know he doesn't wish to dishonor us, and do right by our beautiful, new daughter in law," Sabai continues, placing a heavy hand on Rito's shoulder as he slides up next to him, while Ringo does likewise on the other side to lean into their son's personal space, "So we just wanted to make sure you weren't planning on making us grandchildren anytime soon before he gets married, and using protection..." Rito groans and turns beet red as his parents cause even Mikan and Lala to blush. Nana looks scandalized at hearing Ringo and Saibai confront their son about his actions with her older sister, while Momo just waved off a dizzy spell from the blood rushing to her head, turning away to fight back laughter. Lala quickly holds Rito up as he seemingly passes out, his brain frying from the thoughts and questions forced upon him, his parents still digging into him for questions while Mikan is even beginning to worry about the levels of teasing he would be getting after this...

As the party went on, cake came out, as did some other details surrounding what Rito and Lala's plans were, until the place became suffocating for Momo. Slipping out, sipping at some of the punch that had been set out, she sat down on the back porch and stared out past the cozy white fence, toward the setting sun still high enough to give its light, but signal the end of the party soon enough. She hears the sliding door open again, then shut, and hears the creak of feet on the porch as someone sits down near her, holding their own drink. "It was getting a bit stuffy in there, wasn't it Momo?" Nakajima asks, sipping at his own drink as he admires Rito's collection of flowers and plants in his own little garden, "How are you holding up?" Momo crosses her hands at that, giving a side glance and an eyebrow raise to the younger green haired boy, though he gives a patient nod back. She sighs, and takes another sip of the punch to cool her parched throat.

"I liked him, liked him-liked him, but I always knew he never returned my feelings," she states, much to her own surprise at being so open with a boy who was veritably a stranger to her, "Am I still happy for him, for her, of course I am, they've proven to themselves and everyone else that they are literally bound together as soul-mates now..." She tips her head back and drains the contents of her cup into her mouth, letting the cooling drink slide down in a few gulps. Gasping for air as she sets the cup down against her leg, staring out at the skyline. "I always was jealous of my sister, as much as it seems vain of me to admit it," she states to Nakajima, "She had boys drooling over her, lining up to be her husband, rich, powerful, kind, not as much as Rito, but loving people none the less..." She glances over at Nakajima, before chuckling and realizing she was telling a perfect stranger her feelings. Did she or Nana accidentally spike the punch? Nemesis, or Mea? Not caring, she turns back to the skyline and focuses her mind elsewhere. "I don;t know why Earth guys are so special, I know she chose Rito because he impressed her, but you human's aren't any better than half the known universe out there," she states pointing up to the invisible sky full of stars beyond the darkening blue sky, "We're all just made of the stuff of stars, what makes someone better than another..." Nakajima remains silent, but he scoots a little bit closer to Momo, facing her though she looks elsewhere.

"I can't say why we humans are so different, I've really only had humans to base my own opinions off love and life, but then you guys showed up and I think I get it," Nakajima says, as he stares at Momo, "Its not that human's are special, I mean we're still at war for our planet, we still get sick like everyone else, and we squabble over the littlest things..." He chuckles, and takes another swig of his drink before continuing. "I was out there, with Rito, with Kuro and Zastin, I got to face down pirates, use alien plants to take down bad guys, and be someone else I wasn't here on Earth," Nakajima says, causing Momo to look over at him, "Its not that humans are special, we aren't, but it seems like we do have something I didn't see others at that alien wedding reception having..." He looks to Momo and smiles, taking a sip of his drink and licking his lips free of the sticky moisture. "We're innocent, hopeful, a little bit foolish, and way too trusting of others," Nakajima states, to Momo's curiosity, "Yeah, you see you guys all have been dominating space for what, thousands of years, a couple of centuries at most, and here we are, a species still in the cradle of their own home world taking our first steps at joining the greater galactic community." He downs the rest of his drink, as he continues smiling at Momo, causing her heart to skip a beat as she focuses on his lips.

"Don't get me wrong, we have our problems like everyone else, but we've envisioned the universe at large despite having never left the nest, so to speak, everyone else out there seems to forget they're alien, they've had time to adapt, for every day interactions with your neighbors a quadrant, a parsec, a planet over, being something equivalent to going to your next door neighbor and asking for a cup of broth to finish your stock," Nakajima states, turning to the sky again, seeing the pale moon appear despite the night not yet having risen, "We aren't any different, sure to you, but everything out there is different to us, so we have new views to add, a culture to show off despite everyone already knowing about us, but not knowing us... it's like romancing the plot to your favorite book, when reality doesn't live up to your expectations, and it- it's a breath of fresh air to find something different!" Momo doesn't know if someone spiked the drink or not, nor does she seem to really be caring right now that the party going on behind them leaves them in full view from beyond the glass doors, but she can't fight back the butterflies in her stomach anymore, as this wonderful human boy just understands... "Momo, are you ok-mmmphhh?!" Nakajima's eyes widen as he finds the Devilukean princess having leaning closer to him, only for her to smash her lips onto his a bit forcefully, and he tries his best not to get lost in his daydreams as the girl he could only ever dream about was kissing him right now. He closed his eyes and moaned as she dug her fingernails slightly into his arms, and he gives way as he feels her tongue force itself between her lips, probing for an opening, to experiment this new sensation, this new feeling of pleasure. He hoped this experience would never end. She hoped she would never have to let go.

 _OoOoOoOoO_

Back inside the house, Rito had begun to clean up as people filtered out of the house as night encroached upon the house, ending the fun earlier than expected. Lala was still swapping stories with Ringo regarding his childhood, while Saibai was chatting up both Mikan for more help fixing up his studio and begging her and Momo for more of those delicious lunches they would make for him, Smutts, and Maul. Rito was happy that everyone was gone now, and a little semblance of peace had fallen over the usually quiet Yuuki household once more. Setting the last of the waste into the garbage bag, Rito looks over the cleaned up room and is amazed to be back somewhere familiar with his family around him, after weeks of being in space and on alien planets. He falls back into the couch with a smile on his face, finally able to calm down from the excitement of the past couple of days and taking a few moments of rest after a party full of friends and family welcoming him back home like he was some lost soul. Rito feels the couch shift under the weight of another person sitting down, and he opens his eyes as Lala lays her head on his lap, while the rest of her body takes up the rest of the couch. "Did my mom run out of stories?" Rito asks jokingly, knowing better than that, as Lala shakes her head, "Wasn't it nice of our friends throwing a surprise party for our return?" She nods, and sits there in his lap, not saying anything which was a pleasant experience for Rito as he chose to close his eyes and take a breather.

"Are we going to get married after you graduate?" Lala finally asks, as Saibai and Ringo disperse to their room, Mikan goes to get Celine ready for the night, and Nana and Momo take a hint and go to use their own facilities in the girl's extension, "I mean, really, properly married, Rito, no regrets?" Rito looks down at her as she looks up, her questioning gaze causing him to chuckle as they meet.

"I promise a real marriage, no one interrupting our wedding trying to steal you away from me, or me backing out at the last moment, because," he states, as he grabs her hands to play with them, removing the ring from her fingers along with his own, "These already show us on the outside, what we know on the inside...I faced my regrets inside that pearl, and I hope I showed you that you had nothing to regret by my choosing you." He gets up, both rings still in his hand as he lets Lala sit up, he turns around and faces a confused Lala. Rito proceeds to get down on one knee and offers her back the ring that had been on her hand. "Despite all the fanfare, the friends and family we've been talking to, making promises of dates and plans, we haven't made it official between us yet, have we?" he states rhetorically, a smile on his face as she blushes in realization of what it was he was doing, "So, Lala Satalin Deviluke, will you do me the honor of becoming my fiancee, knowing that once I prove to myself I am responsible, you and I plan to make our union official?"

The squeal that shook the house and trails of happy tears were almost as great as the resounding 'YES' that followed as the answer to his question. Rito had never been happier hearing her answer, and he laughed with her as she cried into his arms. He had everything he had ever wanted, but the cost to get it had been something great indeed. The prince-to-be would always wonder if Creed and Echidna ever received their happy ending, or if their story ended in the ashes of the Pearl. Rito would also wonder if Adam was still alive somewhere, in another place, another time of some form. For now these questions would remain just that.

 _Somewhere Else_

The sun is shining on green, grassy knolls that have sat undisturbed by man for many years. What once was a habitation had long ago rotted away to its foundation, wood turning to dust, bricks washed away in floods that had eroded away at the land, bringing change to the hills as time marched ever onwards. In the middle of the broken foundation of the once house, which in turn had been shifted by the waterlogged earth settling over centuries of time, an unnatural boulder that had been planted in the middle of the area was the newest source for change in the area. Jutting edges and well worn stone break apart at odd angles, as compacted cement and dirt separates after being forcefully displaced in an event that deposited its contents onto the rolling hills.

Just days ago the most unnatural storm to ever hit the area in hundreds of years had occurred, the sky turning dark as the fabric of reality was torn apart, a hole in space and time ripping open the sky and unleashing unholy bolts of energy that sucked light into them, leaving photo negative flashes of light that struck the ground. Expelling the massive stone from its heart, the storm collapsed upon itself and returned the world to normal, the still, grassy knolls returning to shift in the breeze that shortly followed the odd atmospheric disturbance. And in a newly made crater a shining, silver-black sword encased in the resulting meteoric debris, waits to be pulled free from its place within its new prison. Gleaming adamant in the noontime sun, it waits, for it knows it is not alone in its wait.

The rumbles of thunder and musical sound of rain became clearer as new winds of change brought with it the refreshing source of life from the oceans afar. It was these same cooling rains brought on from afar, that awoke the blonde haired boy that lay face first in the mud and pooling water. Pink eyes opened as he began to choke on the rising water, sputtering as he forces himself onto his hands and knees to gather his surroundings. He did not know who he was, he did not know where he was, but he knew enough, that he must survive to find...something, and then he would have his answers.

 _OoOoOoOoO_

 _Earth  
The Next Day_

Rito Yuuki woke to a warm body against his body, pressing him down against his mattress in a tangle of arms and legs. This time though he was prepared for it, ever since Lala had accepted his proposal last night, and had gone their separate ways to bed. Taking a deep breath, he smelt the familiar scent of ginger and pears, so he smiled as he opened his eyes to the familiar pink hair that went down her back and covered her nude form where the tangle of blankets were pulled away or moved in the middle of the night by their sleeping selves. Despite waking up to the nude princess in his room, hearing the knock on his door and seeing it open, he was still one to be embarrassed by the fact a girl was naked in his bedroom in the early morning, with him half-naked to boot. "Wait, Mikan, Nana, it's not wha-" he freezes and feels his heart drop into his stomach as the surprised face of his mother appears from behind the door. Rito feels himself die inside at having his mother come in to wake him up, and he hoped whatever she said would not be too harsh. Stuttering for words as his mother stares him down, cocking her head to the side in confusion, before seeing the half covered lump still in his bed. It was at that time that Lala woke up, sitting up and stretching to reveal her full glory to his mother, much to her horror.

Expecting the worse, like the physical response from Nana, or a verbal reprimand like Mikan, he just hoped he didn't disappoint too much for being such a careless, indecent...

Rito blanches as his mother walks right by him without a word, her eyes gleaming with a look he knew all to well and hadn't expected from her. "Lala-san, would you do me a favor and stand up, you can use Rito's bed sheet like a robe if you need to feel dressed, but I need to see something!" she states excited, in her work mode, much to Rito's chagrin and embarrassment, "My, what form, such envious size, width is definitely right, and so smooth..."

 _exe_.Rito not loading, he stayed there too red and embarrassed to turn around and see what his mother was doing to his fiancee, he was found standing like that by both Nana and Mikan, who had come up to see what the commotion was about. Mikan had snapped her fingers in front of Rito, expecting a response, but not getting any, even Nana was surprised and impressed that Rito had basically fainted while standing. She would have chastised both Rito and her sister, but the embarrassment that Ringo was providing was satisfying enough for Nana, though she was a bit scandalized by the places the modeling agent was checking out on her sister, and she reflexively covered herself with a blush. It was at that time that Peke came lazily floating in holding a steaming mug of some fluid, tired eyes closed as she set her drink down and went past Mikan, Nana, and Rito, before excusing herself and asking Ringo to take a step back. Ringo was privileged to see the little robot do her transformation work, and was amazed when Lala appeared to be wearing her regular, everyday attire.

It took a kiss from Lala to wake Rito backup,as Ringo left only after being dragged down to the kitchen by Nana and Mikan working together. Momo walked in as she left, looking back as Ringo desperately tried to claw her way back up the stairs, brimming with questions aimed at Lala and Peke, begging for the secrets to her transformations, and how she could get a hold of her own version of Peke. The youngest Deviluke smiled before turning back to Rito and Lala, and removing something from arms to hand it over to Rito. "This came to you overnight, papa had sent it for Rito to view alone," Momo states, smiling as she hands off the floating, skull shaped vial with purple crystal resting inside the three upper spikes, "Since father specifically stated this message was for Rito, and Rito only, how about you help me downstairs onee-chan, we need to visit the school today and see if we can get our absences excused so our grades aren't a mess when we get back, we probably have piles of homework and tests to catch up on too."

"Yep!" Lala salutes, smiling before turning back to Rito and giving him a parting kiss on the cheek and purring out a, "See you downstairs in a bit, darling~!" Gulping as Lala's words tickle his ear, he turns his anxiety towards the container in his hand. He had been told to expect a message from the King soon, of course, but Rito hadn't assumed it would be this fast! The last time he had gotten a message like this from the King of Deviluke, he had stated he had approved of their marriage candidacy, and while Rito wasn't nervous, he hoped this one came with less threat inside it. Touching the purple crystal on top of the device, the item putters to life and floats out of his hand, as the crystal begins to recount the message the King wanted delivered to him. __

 _"Rito Yuuki, if you're getting this message, then you and Lala have made it home safely, which relieves me more than one might expect,"_ the recording of King Gid's voice relays, _"As the current rulers of the universe, you'd be surprised that despite your show of force at beating Lacospo, and fighting Creed, their are still some very suicidal idiots who think they can topple my control over the various planets in the universe..." He hears a chuckle come over the recording, before the King resumes his message. "In fact, I'm afraid, that is one of the reasons I've sent this message to you, Yuuki Rito, as current Prince consort, and future King," the message relays, "You see I've become aware of a problem that's come up across some Smuggler Dens and in the scope of the G.P.D., and it seems Rito, that it all centers in on one planet..."_ As the Deviluke King trails off, Rito's breath catches as he fears where the older man is headed with this. _"I'm afraid some shady business has been going down in your corner of the galaxy, Rito, so I figured I could get you and a couple of your friends to handle it for me, think of it as a test to prove you have the ability to solve a conflict of interest like this,"_ the King pauses for a moment, clearing his throat, _"So let me tell you about what's going on, and why Earth is in the cross hairs to play center stage for an all new Galactic War..."_

 ** _A/N:_ And this is it for the story! Hope you all liked it, and I'll ask you to keep an eye out for an upcoming new story I'll be making that is a collection of the One-shots I have planned now, and will be planning to make later. Hopefully that will be a place I put all my _Interlude_ type chapters, between chapters of story, so I can keep the cohesion of my story going. Oh well, live and learn and all that! Don't be afraid to post questions, give feedback,and remember to favorite and/or follow my story so I can post an update when I get my one-shot collection set up. I always love to hear what people say about my story, anonymous or otherwise! Have a great rest of 2018, To-Love Ru fans, and keep being great!  
**


	52. An Uncertain Future

**A/N and Disclaimer: I do not own To Love-Ru, nor do I own 'Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol', each respectively belong to Yabuuki Kentaro and the public domain. I would recommend listening to the song I have at the end; I can't do it justice just by praising it, but thought it would fit perfectly for the end of this piece...**

 **Been awhile, and thought this one-shot would fit here, as it connects to a certain character within this story. It might be a start to a new storyline to accompany the new year.**

 _"...a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more gravy than grave about you, whatever you are!'..._

 _'Hear me!' cried the Ghost, 'My time is nearly gone.'...'That is no light part of my penance,' pursued the Ghost. 'I am here to-night to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate. A chance and hope of my procuring...'..._

 _'This is all nonsense - nonsense - a nightmare - nothing more than a bad dream.. Yes, of course. That explains it. I'm having a dream. Ha, ha, ha; a nightmare..."_

 *****  
 _Memorze_  
 _Ten Years from Now_

The world was washed in white, wobbling like the air was heated and reflected the light all around, as the harsh desert sunlight comprising a mirage bends its image and gives a weary wanderer false hope. That was what he thought as he was blinded by the light, only to awake to the madness that was now his reality, as the cold harsh truth closed in on him from every side. Darkness, there was no starlight, no sunlight, no heat to speak of as it was currently the middle of the night, and the sun was still three hours from rising over the desert sand dunes to begin the process of baking him once again for fourteen inhospitable hours. He had woken to this daily hell as he did every day, freezing from the lack of heat the desert let loose in the evening with no living thing to keep the heat in the eroded ground, nor any water to soothe his parched throat. The only sole thing he could lay claim to was the helmet that he wore over his head in the daytime, to keep the harsh sunlight from beating down on him in the daytime, yet was too suffocating to sleep in in the evening, despite the tolerable temperature the life sustaining armor could supply to his body to survive this arid environment as long as he had.

It could be called irony, a hell of his own making, or a variety of other things, but for now he called this wandering lifestyle of his, dragging a heavy burden with makeshift rope of length of cable, the beginning of an eternity of journeying to make up for the sins of his past. He had forgotten more than he could remember, but he knew enough to come to the most basic of unfounded conclusions about his current situation, and that this was the life of one reborn Rito Yuuki now. Death had symbolically claimed him for the third time: the first was a near brush that had remade him into something with inhuman powers, the second his life was consumed by a monster that wore his skin and bones for its own agenda, before the third brush with death had exorcised that demon in the form of a bullet hole that tore through his armor like tissue paper; a bullet of Orichalcum shot by the infamous weapon of his former comrade the monster in his skin had killed, fulfilling the promise he had made to bring him low if he had ever aimed too high.

And by the hands of his own daughter, blood related or not, he was mortified that she would have to live with that choice for all time, despite the guilt and blame resting solely on his own shoulders for having let it come to that point. Though being trapped within that monsters shadowy embrace for ten years had been more than a living hell itself, watching from within ones own mind as his body was used by a ghost of a man to commit atrocities in the name of an empire that should have ended with its former king.

Gid was a noble man, and he had long known he wouldn't fill his shoes. if it had made him any more happier, at the very end Gid had realized that it was Creed Diskenth who wore his frame, who abused and manipulated his youngest daughter into marrying him, who used the death of his eldest daughter as an excuse to carry out an unending campaign against 'evil', for the sake of a love that had died with his own sword impaled in his true love.

 _'Don't blame yourself'_

Those were her hauntingly final words, no matter how he tried to ignore them, block them out from his mind, as he screamed over her lifeless body, he knew that in the very end she did not want him to blame himself over the fact he could not control his own body. Azenda had paid for those crimes in the harshest of ways, too harsh for the man she knew him to really be, so it was his greatest regrets that he failed her and let Creed's darkness consume his own light. Now he had the chance to redo his mistakes, but only by traveling this empty desert could he see with his own eyes the truth of his new reality.

Rito knows now why somebody would have mistaken this for his own personal hell, as he continues now for the ninth day walking an endless desert, that something must have happened due to the mere fact that the world of Memorze was utterly changed from the world he knew from the week and a half of walking the untouched continent. Completely and utterly, it was devoid of any form of life, neither plant, insect, nor animal had crossed his path in these utterly tedious, repeating landscape, sand dunes and waterways devoid of a single sign of man, woman or other beings walking its surface. It was as if the entire cycle of life had been removed, erased, or otherwise wiped clean of any tinkering, tool, or building mankind, or rather Memorzeankind, had ever made. Except for a single five meter bubble of reality he dragged behind him in his journey.

He would have abandoned it, except for the fact that it was the sole comforting piece of reality he had left to reassure him that he was not insane. The underground bunker he had been killed in had not, in fact, been torn down and replaced by desert dunes overnight as some cruel prank, that the single remaining reminder of civilization having not been a collective figment of reality, was being dragged behind him. If he was ten years younger, he wouldn't have been able to move the one ton piece of machinery, but the device was obviously something of Lala's making for it to survive the total destruction of reality and still not work right. That's right, he did try to get it to work, but the complex combination of gears and gizmos seemed to be lacking a proper power source, if the three foot cord that was hooked up to the base of the machine that ended in broken wires and insulation was any indication. Whatever powered it must have required quite a bit of energy that a building with a dedicated power source could have probably solved, but as stated previously, he was finding himself wandering an empty desert with nothing around him or likely ahead of him as a final destination.

That was his goal after all, something he had decided after realizing that his circumstances weren't as bleak with his body not requiring food or water as much as a normal humans would require with his highly adapted body having been trained to utilize the minimum. His survivability was enhanced further by the suit of armor he wore, having been created from the remnants of ancient and advanced weaponry and designed to make its wearer self sufficient and utilize the dark matter his body produced to create nutrient rich water that his body could subsist off of when his food and water reserves were low. It was perfect for a world as harsh as Memorze was with the seeming lack of civilization and lack of vegetation.

But his body still required rest, and after wandering the desert for yet another fruitless day of hopeless searching for any signs of civilization, he collapses to the ground in frustration and rips his helmet off. "ARGGGGGGHHHHH!" he screams to the heavens, the twin suns in the sky beating down on him from above, as they continued to spin mercilessly equal upon the planet in orbit as they had since the beginning of its creation. Dropping the helmet to the ground, he lets go of the makeshift rope and feels the beads of sweat forming on his brow from the high temperature effecting him without any relief over his head. He couldn't keep walking forward, he would rather give up and let the desert sun claim his bones, but the thought of him dying before figuring out the purpose of his coming back to life on a planet suddenly and seemingly void of life, it kept him from fully surrendering himself to the inevitable. Taking the helmet from the ground and holding it in both his hands, he suddenly stands up and throws it with all his might at the useless machine he had dragged through miles of empty desert, striking the machine directly in the powerless console and causing it to dent from the force of the impact. A piece of the machine seems to pop off, but Rito ignores it in favor of the desert ahead of him. Pitching forward into the ground, he would rather let himself bake and surrender himself to the sweet release of unconsciousness brought on by the oncoming heat stroke he would no doubt suffer in this sun.

"Why are you giving up?" as a shadow suddenly passes over him, Rito looking up to see a pair of boots in front of his face as he lay prostrate on the ground, "Get up, please; you aren't dead yet, so why are you resting?" Dragging his face up from the desert sand, granules falling in clumps from where the sweat of his brow met the ground, and he found himself staring straight into a shadowy form, face eclipsed by the sun shining around him like a halo. "Aren't you going to ask me how I'm here?" she asks, as Rito slowly gets up in disbelief to stare at the person before him, who tilts her head with a smile framed by the pink curls falling to frame her face, "Hello." She says it with a smile, but Rito feels like punching himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming as she removed a hood of white that protected her delicate features, to reveal the remainder of her pink mane. He drinks in her beauty, the clothes she wore, the way her face seemed to shine as she stood enlightened by two suns, and the fact her perfectly flawless skin was not marred by the scars he gave her, his ugly sword lodged betwixt her two perfectly shaped breasts, the scarlet red staining her clothes as her life bled from her body in his arms.

She wore a provocative dress, layers of blue trailing behind her in the sand, covered by a translucent opalescent layer that blended seamlessly with the actual bodice of the dress. An upside-down arrowhead crisscrossed with white netting beneath a thin strip of clothe like a V. The bodice continued to split upward as part of a second, deep v-neck cut that exposed a good amount of her abdominal muscles, before curving over her breasts and reaching her armpits, before continuing downward to connect with pure white gloves that extended from her fingers up to the crook of her arm. At her neck was a choker of pure white, the same white netting that covered the exposed portions of her abdomen, extended up her exposed upper arms from the gloves to her shoulders, ending at the choker to make the entire dress one seamless piece. A small cloak seemed to be seamed into the back of the dress, the outside of which was the same stark white as her dress, while the interior seemed to be a breathtaking ombre that reminded Rito of the night sky descending onto the sunset, a deep, dark blue that held sparkling white gems that reflected the light like stars, before bleeding to a violet, that blended with the orange at the bottom in a wash of color that evoked the sunset.

She took a few steps closer to him, her hand ghosting down his armor, never truly touching as she drank him in as much as he had viewed her. Her smile was as dazzling as the stars that seemed to dance in her eyes as they stared longingly at each other, before she broke the spell with her words. "I can help you, you silly boy, with that machine of mine," she states, as she trails around him to stand in front of the broken pillar that reminded him that she was not here, she was dead by his hands, and the girl that had brought his humanity back to him had returned to her world, leaving him with ghosts of the pasts haunting him here now that his very future seemed bleak. A cruel hallucination brought to him by the twin suns of Memorze no doubt and for a brief moment he nearly wished to pull his eyes away from her; if only to break the intoxicating stupor her very presence brought upon him, even as an illusion. She touched nothing, stood above the very sand without leaving footprints in her wake, and was very provocative clothing only a mind as sullied as his could have dreamed up; her very features probably pulled from his mind, evoked by the memories of an older Nana and Momo, and applied to this ghostly future version of Lala, her perfect skin seemingly holding onto its youth drawing upon the faint memories of Queen Sephie, as well.

He turned away from her, prepared to let the desert sand take the illusion of her away from him, when he feels the ghost of a touch upon his face. Looking to the side, feeling a soft palm caress his right cheek from behind, he finds her lithe fingers drawing him effortless, his body reacting to the faint feelings of touch pulling him behind her. "This, here, please remove it," she commands, as she points to the dented panel he had made when he tossed his helmet at the broken machine, popping a bolt or screw of some form free, "I need to view the state of the power source." He doesn't know why he obeys her, but he removes the panel, peeling the metal back like one peels back the lid of a tin can to free its contents. An unearthly glow fills the box, as the source of the light is exposed to the light, which is quickly fading as the second sun begins to dip below the horizon, the first realization Rito has at seeing how lost he was not noticing the quickly approaching night. She moves around him, he too backing up out of instinct, as she examines the simple glowing fixture by crouching down to get a better view of it.

"A crystal lattice has replaced the White Taoist Pearl," she states in surprise, much to his own as he lacked knowledge that such an important artifact had been integrated into a now useless machine, as she examines the simple black crystal pillar. It seems to encase a golden imperfection that is reminiscent of a cats eye marble, if it was lengthened and twisted to fit such a unique piece, or something similar to a helix that had been unwound. "I think I know what's going on," Lala states, pulling up from her position to look with confidence at Rito, "It needs you, Rito, the machines been... well, changed for you to use it, but it needs more..." She looks puzzled, as if contemplating, something Rito found odd for a hallucination, before she looks down at him in the quickly failing light to observe the tail he had largely ignored, trailing behind him, flicking here or there in autonomic response to his own nerves, made possible thanks to the armor that acted as an exo-skeleton utilizing the ancient technology and making it truly a part of his body, more akin to a phantom limb. Lala crouches down once more, almost causing him to reflexively move as she grabbed for his tail, but she chooses to lightly ghost over it, a smile growing ever clearer on her face as she stands to put her hands on his shoulders, before faulting and putting them to her sides.

"You still have nano-machines inside you," she states as more than a question, but he realizes that she knows more than he, if that were possible for a heatstroke induced illusion of his unconscious mind. She moves over to the back of the machine,pointing to something he can't see. "You have a way in, with this broken piece here," she states, and he moves to see she is pointing to the exposed wiring that was still connected to the power source, before she walks around to the front of the machine, where the base of the machine was still whole, connected to pieces of the ground that hadn't been erased with everything else, "There's enough raw material here, that... yes, it just might work!" Giddily, she skips around the machine, her dress flowing around her in sweeping motions, leaving no trace in the sand as she twirls with delight, before she stops to focus upon Rito. "You can do it, the machine, the nano-machines, will do the work and use you," she states, pulling up an arm to point at him directly, "You'll be the spark that ignites the flame; the machines will draw upon your will to complete their task, and we can..." She trails off, before coyly smiling at him.

Stepping back, she covers her face shyly with the iridescent cloak of white, the colorless gems catching the fading sunset light and casting her beauty in a stunning new shade. "The journey, Rito, is yours to make," she states, "A second chance has been given you, if you so want it, we can be together again, out there!" She twirls around, stretching her hands out to the cosmos above, as the faint starlight begins to dot the vast desert landscape, mirroring the night sky like a sea of glass,a s shadows fall across it.

He doesn't understand, how she can be here, how he could feel the hope rising in his chest as she uttered every word. Wanting to believe her, he stared at the glowing obelisk at the center of the machine, a broken thing that he dragged and carelessly brought with him, as his future slipped further and further from his grasp with every hopeless step he took. Now she had opened the doors to a very possible reality for him, the chance to do it all over again, to save her, somewhere out there, to meet her and be one with her again, a second chance; no in reality a fourth chance, to have her in his arms again. He grabs his helmet, long discarded in the cooling sand, and utilizes every ounce of his control to activate his tail and drag it swiftly and precisely across the surface of the plain, unmarred helmet, carving deep but important reminders into it. Putting the helmet onto his head, he faces the machine as the sun dips further into the sky, dragging down the night sky upon the surface of the desert planet like a curtain on the end of an act of a play.

The curtain closed, his face beneath the guise he wore, he smiles as he raises the tail like appendage from the ground and stands proudly upon the base of the device, preparing himself for this final verse. He lowers his tail slowly into the mass of wires and feels it connect as it sends an electric shock that forces him to his knees. "AGGGHHHHH!" he cries out for the second time that day, before staring at the form of his beloved standing before him, gaining strength from her appearance before him still.

"I am with you Rito, you are never alone again," she states, watching as his body takes over the machine, control wrested from him as he writhes in pain silently inside the immobilized armor, "Always with you, from the beginning to the end." His senses extend from his armor to the machine, he feels the heat of the crystal as it connects and draws from the spark of his life force to ignite into a burning furnace of power, drawing on the machines from his body as the raw materials that once seemed useless to him are consumed along with his consciousness. Like a newborn star, the crystal lattice seems to consume the night in its glow, as it ruptures the sky with its brilliant golden light as bright as the core of a newborn star, before the heat begins to crystallize the very sands that blow around them with the wind. In a flash the light and heat is gone, and for a few moments the brilliance of a hollow sculpture of freshly blown glass, a fragile mass of glass strands that reminisces of an upside down jellyfish, a perfectly round void caused by the displacement of mass, is left before the first gust of sand breaks it in a tinkling rain.

"Yes, here with you from the beginning..." the cloaked white figure seems to reminisce as she states those words, her eyes are drawn to the night sky where a burning mass falls from the sky to impact with a nearby sand dune, after being ejected from a glowing rip in the sky that had shortly appeared after Rito had disappeared, "...all the way to the end." She descends upon the loose earth, her dress losing its light as she cloaks the ground and causes ripples in the sand as she walks with the long train dragging behind her, footsteps trailing behind her quickly covered and erased, as if she had never stood upon the sand at all.

 _Lost in the shadow's lonely embrace_  
 _I'm trapped in a web of my own mistakes._  
 _What was my light, fades away_

 _My mind's swarming with these memories_  
 _That still haunt me_

 _Time and again_  
 _I call out your names_  
 _So hopelessly certain you'll do the same_  
 _Please, wait for me, my dear friends_

 _Though I did what I thought I had to do_  
 _I still lost you._

 **A/N Cont.: I also do not own 'The Master's Lament', by Lizz Robinett.**  
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 **If you liked the story, please don't forget to favorite and review. I plan on creating two other separate but connected one-shots, the first of which I'll likely place in 'Stories of Our Lives' since the other story doesn't really fit the theme yet. Again please like, review, and let me know your feelings!**


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